MUMBAI: Once upon a time, Shahid Kapoor had a promising career ahead of him. ‘Jab We Met’ had made him an overnight superstar, and he did career-best (double) role in Vishal Bhardwaj’s ‘Kaminey’. However it went downhill from there.
‘Badmaash Company’ was an average earner, while ‘Teri Meri Kahaani’ and ‘Mausam’ failed at the box office. Now Shahid Kapoor finally returns to the silver screen with Rajkumar Santoshi’s ‘Phata Poster Nikhla Hero’, and later this year in director Prabhu Deva’s ‘Rambo Rajkumar’.
But where was he all this while? No one really knows. He was constantly in the news but mostly for a single reason. He rejected too many films. Films that could have potentially made his career.
Shahid Kapoor chose not to work with Vishal Bhardwaj again in ‘Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola’ thus letting Imran Khan polish his own Haryanvi accent. Though the film wasn’t a hit, it was quite acclaimed and Imran Khan was praised for his performance too.
Shahid Kapoor then famously rejected ‘Raanjhanaa’. We all know how ‘Raanjhanaa’ ended on the success scale. Shahid also rejected Maneesh Sharma’s upcoming film ‘Shuddh Desi Romance’, the role of which eventually went to newcomer Sushant Singh Rajput.
Where could Shahid Kapoor’s career have been today if he had said yes to these films?
As Shahid Kapoor himself has said, “The success of both ‘Phata Poster Nikhla Hero’ and ‘Rambo Rajkumar’ is vital to my career. I need to be out there, and I need the audience to watch my films and appreciate them.” The actor also admits that he feels quite jealous of today’s young stars who get accepted by the audience pretty easily.
“I feel extremely jealous and excited at the same time when I see their performance. Jealous because if it is a great film, I obviously feel I should have been a part of it,” Shahid said.
Meanwhile, on the personal front, the actor is single, he maintains. Then what of the party he held for Priyanka Chopra on her birthday? “I only threw a party. Priyanka’s birthday happened to be two days later. It was not a party for her. There were many people who attended it and she was merely one of the guests at my party.”
We hope Shahid Kapoor turns lucky with both his love life and his career soon. It will be good to see the actor to his full potential again, and for all his fans, a happy ever after.
