59 Facts About Shahid Kapoor

1.

Shahid Kapoor is an Indian actor who appears in Hindi films.

2.

The son of actors Pankaj Kapur and Neelima Azeem, Kapoor trained as a dancer at Shiamak Davar's academy.

3.

Shahid Kapoor appeared as a background dancer in a few films of the 1990s, and was later featured in music videos and television commercials.

4.

Shahid Kapoor made his film debut in 2003 with a leading role in the romantic comedy Ishq Vishk, a sleeper hit for which he won the Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut.

5.

Shahid Kapoor followed it with roles in several commercial failures before starring in Sooraj Barjatya's top-grossing family drama Vivah.

6.

Shahid Kapoor earned praise for playing a troubled businessman in Imtiaz Ali's romantic comedy Jab We Met and twin brothers in Vishal Bhardwaj's action film Kaminey.

7.

Shahid Kapoor has since starred in the Amazon Prime Video crime drama series Farzi.

8.

Shahid Kapoor is married to Mira Rajput, with whom he has two children.

9.

Shahid Kapoor was born in New Delhi on 25 February 1981 to actor Pankaj Kapur and actor-dancer Neelima Azeem.

10.

Shahid Kapoor's parents divorced when he was three years old; his father shifted to Mumbai and Kapoor continued living in Delhi with his mother and maternal grandparents.

11.

Shahid Kapoor would talk to me about dad, with whom he shared a great relationship, and read out his letters to me.

12.

When Shahid Kapoor was 10, his mother, who was working as a dancer, moved to Mumbai to work as an actress.

13.

Shahid Kapoor continued living with his mother and Khattar, until they separated in 2001.

14.

Shahid Kapoor continues to use the last name Khattar on his passport.

15.

Shahid Kapoor has a maternal half-brother, Ishaan, from his mother's marriage to Khattar.

16.

Shahid Kapoor was educated at the Gyan Bharati School in Delhi and Rajhans Vidyalaya in Mumbai.

17.

Shahid Kapoor later attended Mumbai's Mithibai College for three years.

18.

Shahid Kapoor was interested in dance from an early age, and at the age of 15, he joined Shiamak Davar's dance institute.

19.

However, upon meeting him, Taurani thought Shahid Kapoor, who was 20 years old at the time, to be too young and underweight to become an actor, and encouraged him to wait for a few years.

20.

Shahid Kapoor, who trained extensively for a bulkier physical build, was eventually hired.

21.

Shahid Kapoor was attracted to the idea of playing an unlikable lead since it was a departure from the traditional portrayal of teenage heroes in Indian films.

22.

The series of poorly received films continued in 2005, when all three of Shahid Kapoor's films failed at the box office.

23.

The former was plagiarised from the Hollywood film There's Something About Mary in which Shahid Kapoor played one of Rimi Sen's love interests; the critic Khalid Mohamed found Shahid Kapoor to be "the only likeable element in this travesty" but Namrata Joshi of Outlook labelled him "colourless" and criticised his pairing with Sen.

24.

The critic Sukanya Verma found Shahid Kapoor to be miscast as a village boy in the film, but noted that he was "never short of spontaneity and youthful exuberance".

25.

In preparation, Shahid Kapoor met speech specialists and researched on the medical and mental aspects of the two conditions.

26.

In 2010, Shahid Kapoor reteamed with Ken Ghosh in Chance Pe Dance, a comedy-drama about a struggling actor, in which Shahid Kapoor's performance was described as "uneven" by Aniruddha Guha of Daily News and Analysis.

27.

Shahid Kapoor had a supporting role in Paathshaala, a drama about the education system in India, starring Nana Patekar, following which he starred in Yash Raj Films' Badmaash Company, a comedy-drama about a group of overambitious youngsters who become con men.

28.

Rachel Saltz of The New York Times praised Shahid Kapoor's look in the film, though Tushar Joshi of Mid-Day thought that he was miscast.

29.

Shahid Kapoor next appeared in his father's directorial Mausam ; co-starring Sonam Shahid Kapoor, the star-crossed romance set over a decade, took two years to complete.

30.

Rajeev Masand reviewed that "while he doesn't quite cut it as a convincing IAF pilot, Shahid Kapoor is terrific as the small-town brat".

31.

The film was a box office flop and Shahid Kapoor was later regretful for spending so much time on the project.

32.

Shahid Kapoor's role was that of Vishwas Rao, a struggling actor who masquerades as a policeman.

33.

Critical reviews on the film were negative, though Shahid Kapoor's performance was praised.

34.

Shahid Kapoor next reunited with director Vishal Bhardwaj to film Haider, an adaptation of William Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet set during the Kashmir conflict of 1995, in which he played the titular role opposite Tabu and Shraddha Shahid Kapoor.

35.

Shahid Kapoor described the film as the "toughest" of his career, and waived his fees to star in it.

36.

Sanjukta Sharma of Mint found the film to be an "immensely effective reimagination of Shakespeare" and particularly praised Shahid Kapoor for playing his part with "impressive zest and inventiveness".

37.

Shahid Kapoor next took on the role of a drug abusing rock star in Udta Punjab, a crime drama from the director Abhishek Chaubey that documents the substance abuse endemic in the Indian state of Punjab.

38.

Shahid Kapoor based the role on several pop stars, and was interested in bringing out his character's vulnerability despite his obnoxious actions.

39.

Sukanya Verma took note of the film's anti-drug message; she considered Shahid Kapoor to be "spectacularly unbridled" in his part and added that "the believability he brings to his complex transition while preserving his inherent flakiness deserves all the praise".

40.

Shahid Kapoor won the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor and received a Best Actor nomination at the same ceremony.

41.

The film received mixed reviews; Rajeev Masand termed the film "overlong, indulgent to the point of exhaustion", but praised Shahid Kapoor for playing his part with "remarkable maturity".

42.

Shahid Kapoor next played Rawal Ratan Singh, a 14th-century Rajput ruler, in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's period drama Padmaavat, co-starring Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh.

43.

Ankur Pathak of HuffPost was disappointed in the film's adherence to regressive patriarchal mores and criticised Shahid Kapoor for being "a bit too stiff and robotic".

44.

Saibal Chatterjee reviewed, "Shahid Kapoor, working within a screenplay that is undercooked and confused, tries his very best to make the best of a bad deal but is unable to pack any real power".

45.

In 2019, Shahid Kapoor starred in Kabir Singh, a remake of the Telugu romantic drama Arjun Reddy, in which he played a self-destructive alcoholic pining for his ex-girlfriend.

46.

Shahid Kapoor found it challenging to distance himself from the part, and feared bringing home the experience to his wife and children.

47.

Shahid Kapoor was praised by Archika Khurana of The Times of India for his credibility as a cricketer.

48.

Shahid Kapoor played Sunny, a disillusioned artist who decides to make counterfeit money.

49.

Since their split, Shahid Kapoor decided to keep his personal life away from media attention.

50.

In 2012, Shahid Kapoor lodged a police complaint of stalking against former actress Vastavikta Pandit.

51.

In March 2015, Shahid Kapoor spoke of his impending marriage to Mira Rajput, a university student from New Delhi, who is 13 years his junior.

52.

The Times of India reported that Shahid Kapoor met Rajput through the Dharmic religious group Radha Soami Satsang Beas.

53.

In 2012, Shahid Kapoor helped revive the Victory Arts Foundation NGO, founded by Shiamak Davar, which helps underprivileged children through dance therapy programs.

54.

Jitesh Pillai of Filmfare wrote that after gaining recognition in urban romantic roles, Shahid Kapoor defied typecasting by taking on diverse parts in crime dramas and action films.

55.

Shahid Kapoor noted that Kapoor's refusal to be "slotted under any kind of tag" led to a fluctuating career trajectory.

56.

Shahid Kapoor was ranked fifth on The Times of India list of the 50 most-desirable men in 2014; he was placed among the top 10 in 2012,2013 and 2015.

57.

Shahid Kapoor is the celebrity ambassador for several brands and products, including Samsung, Elf Aquitaine and Colgate.

58.

Shahid Kapoor has been the recipient of three Filmfare Awards: Best Male Debut for Ishq Vishk, Best Actor for Haider, and Critics Award for Best Actor for Udta Punjab.

59.

Shahid Kapoor has received four more Best Actor nominations at the ceremony for Jab We Met, Kaminey, Udta Punjab, and Kabir Singh.