Shraddha Kapoor on blowing off steam with music and doodles, and taking 6am badminton lessons every day for the Saina biopic
Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; September 12, 2018)

Shraddha Kapoor has been prepping extensively to play Saina Nehwal in Amole Gupte’s biopic on the ace shuttler, which is expected to kick off by the month-end. “I’ve been attending badminton classes daily at 6 am. My coach, Eshan Naqvi, is a young guy but there’s so much to learn from him. He is an amazing coach,” she asserts, adding the badminton portions will be shot only early next year by which time she hopes to be ready with her game.

Meanwhile, she’s gearing up for her next, Shree Narayan Singh’s social drama, Batti Gul Meter Chalu, which is about electricity theft and startling bills. For small-town girl Lalita Nautiyal aka Nauti, who is a fashion designer, Shraddha had to get down to the basics, learning how to take measurements from her stylist. “Nauti has a quirky style of dressing and blue streaks in her hair. She thinks she knows how to put together an outfit, but she doesn’t actually. But she is a feisty girl who stands up for her beliefs and even calls out Shahid’s (Kapoor, co-star) lawyer for his ‘kapti kameena’ ways,” the actress tells Mirror.

Shraddha reunited with Shahid four years after Vishal Bhardwaj’s Haider and agrees there’s a certain comfort in working with a familiar face. “It’s always easier to work with someone you know from before. Shahid has been around for a while and he’s one of the finest actors we have,” she asserts.

Speaking of enjoyable experiences, shooting in Tehri in Uttarakhand, was a treat too, despite the lack of facilities one takes for granted in metros. “I enjoy being in smaller towns because there’s no rush for anything. It’s calming and gives you a sense of peace. I would wander off in-between shots and look at the trees...” Shraddha reminisces, glad that all the payment issues under former producer Prernaa Arora have been sorted with Bhushan Kumar on board and the film is finally releasing.

Meanwhile, her Prabhas co-starrer Saaho, for which she has been shooting in Hyderabad, has kept her on her toes. It’s her first action film, but she’s taken the challenge head-on. “The action director takes me through every scene. Since it’s a Hindi-Telugu bilingual, another first for me, it feels like I am shooting for two films simultaneously,” she remarks, adding that she’d love to do a Marathi film now to explore her roots inherited from her mother, Shivangi.

Talking about family, the Kapoors recently acquired a holiday home in Goa, but the actress rues she hasn’t found time yet to check out the place. “For now, dad (actor Shakti Kapoor), mom and my brother Siddhanth are looking into everything to do with the new home,” she sighs.

She may be inundated with work, but Shraddha has found just the thing to blow off steam. “I have been writing songs for a while now. I also enjoy setting them to music on the keyboard. I am also an occasional doodler,” she informs. When asked of plans to showcase her creative streak, Shraddha says she’d rather focus on acting for now.