Veteran superstar Shashi Kapoor`s grandson Zahan Kapoor, who has been active on the theatre front, carved a niche in showbiz with Faraaz and Black Warrant. He misses his granddad dearly as he remembers the icon on his 87th birth anniversary. In an exclusive interaction with Mid-day, Zahan gets candid about his fondest memories with the superstar and speaks about taking his legacy forward.
`He did not see me perform`
Zahan, the newest Kapoor addition in showbiz, shares core memories of his legendary grandfather Shashi Kapoor. He speaks about the profound impact he had on his childhood. When asked what he misses the most about him, the young actor gets emotional and says, “He is much more than just a grandfather than he is anything else because he retired when I was born, and then by the time I became a young adult, he was quite sick. I was not able to share my love of this craft and this world with him and I feel quite sad that I was not able to do that. He did not see me perform.”
On taking Shashi Kapoor’s legacy forward
Zahan recalls how acting wasn`t the first choice for the `Deewaar` star. “He was interested in filmmaking, and he had a little camera, and they would shoot and try and make little movies at home with his best friend Prayag. It was just lovely.”
On taking his legacy forward, the `Black Warrant` star adds, “If I can have integrity and authenticity, I will be just fine.”
Ending the conversation with a hilarious anecdote about his granddad, Zahan reveals, “He was at one point called a taxi driver and he was working multiple shifts on the same day so he was going from one set to the other set back to back, just working like continuously in different films.”
With a career spanning over five decades, Shashi Kapoor appeared in numerous hit films, both in India and internationally. He was known for his charismatic screen presence, versatile acting, and memorable roles in films like Deewaar, Kabhie Kabhie, and Satyam Shivam Sundaram.
Shashi Kapoor passed away on December 4, 2017, at the age of 79.
