Shahid Kapoor, celebrated for redefining genres with performances in films like ‘Haider’, ‘Udta Punjab’, ‘Kabir Singh’ and ‘Farzi’, recently spoke about the philosophy that influences his choice of roles. In a recent interview, he revealed how a perspective shared by Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio helped reshape his own approach to selecting characters.
In a conversation on ‘Prakhar Ke Pravachan’, “I read a very interesting interview of Leonardo DiCaprio where he said, ‘If I read a script for the first time and when I know what’s to be done with the character I say no, because it’s within my comfort zone, when I don’t know what to do is when I am interested’, I found it very interesting that it must be outside your comfort zone. Sometimes I’m able to do it, sometimes maybe I’m not, but that’s an inherent desire to be able to climb a new peak and not to go back climbing the same peak because I can climb it; it’s about exploration and that fear of the unknown.”
Shahid also explained how this philosophy is reflected in his upcoming film ‘O' Romeo’, directed by Vishal Bhardwaj. The actor shared, “With Vishal sir, it’s always a journey. Having said that, you have to find and look for ways to do something new because what’s written is written by the writer; what is written differently, if I perform it the way I always perform it, will seem different fundamentally. It’s written differently, so you’ll receive it as a story first, which also happens with a lot of actors who play similar roles and do different stories across different genres. So, they look like they’re doing different work. But there are actors who’ll take the same genre and then do it differently and that’s actually your craft as you’re bringing something new to it, which is very exciting and interesting.”
Praising his ‘O’ Romeo’ co-star Triptii Dimri, Shahid highlighted how integral her role is to the film’s narrative. He admired her dedication and passion for bringing depth to her character.