Zahan Kapoor: 'I was terrified of being launched as a Kapoor'

Star kids are not discovered They are launched unless you are Zahan Kapoor He made his screen debut three years ago with Hansal Mehtarsquos poignant drama Faraaz but his breakout role finally came three weeks ago with Vikramaditya Motwanersquos prison drama series Black Warrant Audience praise for his turn as a rookie jailer grew into curiosity and viewers slowly learned that a new Kapoor had entered the industryKapoor is the grandson of Shashi Kapoor grandnephew of Raj Kapoor nephew of Rishi Kapoor and second cousin of Ranbir Kareena and Karisma On the maternal side he is the grandson of veteran filmmaker Ramesh Sippy As he speaks to us sitting by Prithvi Theatremdashalso second home to himmdashKapoor is happy his surname reached the audience after his work ldquoI am proud that my work has spoken before merdquo he smilesZahan Kapoor played the lead character in Black WarrantNot that the actorrsquos debut had gone unnoticed Whoever watched Faraaz reserved praised for him but it didnrsquot translate into an immediate buzz around him He must have been advised to hire a PR at least ldquoYes but thatrsquos a lot of money also and I donrsquot have that kind of money I know no one will believe merdquo Thatrsquos not the only unbelievable rather unexpected aspect of the young actorrsquos journey ldquoI didnrsquot know what the relevance of my family was growing uprdquo he shares It was a lot to do with both his parentsmdashKunal Kapoor and Sheena Sippymdashnot working in the film industryldquoI didnrsquot have that lsquofilmy bubblersquo pressure I was very separated from it which I am very grateful for because it helped me to stay connected to the world I was exposed to the world at largerdquo he says Even before he aspired to be an actor Kapoor was passionate about horse riding which took him to different cities in the north opening up his worldview furtherZahan Kapoor is the grandson of Shashi Kapoor grandnephew of Raj Kapoor nephew of Rishi Kapoor and second cousin of Ranbir Kareena and KarismaWhen the films and storytelling bug finally bit him the pursuit of an authentic connection with his prospective audience also brought the need to learn the language to communicate with them ldquoNo one in my family speaks in Hindi And in school I had dropped out it Hindi elective That was the main issue for merdquo he recalls ldquoI am dyslexicmdash I am a visual thinker I had a really hard time in school and languages were especially difficult for merdquoTell him that the Internet has taken note of his command over Hindi which seems to be a disadvantage of many of his contemporaries belonging to film families and he promptly replies ldquoTheatre ki wajah se Woh bhi maine prayas kiya hai Abhyas karte raho Itrsquos because of theatre I worked hard at it you have to keep practisingrdquoldquoI read short stories poetry and literature Currently I am reading a lot of mythology Manav Kaul has written such lovely short stories He has such a lovely contemporary voice I am reading Purano ki Kahaniyan I keep going back to Manto Harishankar Parsai is hilariousrdquo he addsKapoor says he also relied on the companions he has curated over the last decade ldquoI surrounded myself with people from different backgrounds People I can listen to learn from and growhellip I like language and articulation because thatrsquos how you connect with someone I still struggle I want to be good enough to really write and have control to write real poetryrdquo he saysOf course the rest of his family is already in awe of his skill with the language ldquoMy family thinks I speak marvellous Hindi They say lsquoWaah your Hindi is the bestrsquo And I tell them lsquoThatrsquos because I worked the hardestrsquordquo he laughsTheatre was not just the proving ground for his Hindi skills but also his acting chops and this was intentional He was terrified of being launched as a Kapoor kid that he decided to take what he calls a ldquorooted approachrdquo ldquoNot that people were saying lsquoThis is the next herorsquo That was never the caserdquo he says ldquoPeople looked at me with doubt thinking lsquoDo you have it in yoursquo Some were okay to take a chance on me because I had the name But I didnrsquot want to risk my entire career on a chance that someone would take only because I am a Kapoor Which is why I decided to do theatre and learn my craftrdquo he saysThe result was he debuted on stage with Pitaji Please before making it to the silver screen In between Faraaz and Black Warrant the actor also did another play Siachen cocreated with his Faraaz costar Aditya RawalHe credits his parents for making it clear since the beginning that he would have to stand on his own feet ldquoMy parents told me lsquoWe will emotionally support you but wonrsquot call people and ask them to cast yoursquordquoldquoI am not asking for support from my familyrdquo he adds ldquoI say lsquoI will do it on my own but I will come back to you only to ask how my work was and then you guide mersquordquoSo his famous cousins also remained just family never contacts Kapoor recalls growing up around his star cousin Ranbir ldquoVisiting Ranbirrsquos house felt slightly different because they were famous and successful Still it was very warm All of us love food we talk a lotrdquo he saysldquoI used to ask Ranbir a lot of questions and was fascinated that he was working on these big films Ranbir would talk about his shoots scripts that excited him or projects that frustrated himrdquo he recalls Kapoor is happy that now for the first time he is able to share his experiences from the set with them He tells us that Ranbir recently told him how much he had enjoyed watching Black WarrantldquoMy pace is slow But this is authentic to me Therersquos a confidence that comes with slowly doing it No one handed anything to me I earned my workrdquo the newest Kapoor on the block says