Sanjay Kapoor on his daughter’s Bollywood launch and why she decided to work as an AD instead of going to a film school
Hiren Kotwani (MUMBAI MIRROR; October 8, 2019)

It’s nearly two months since Mission Mangal, in which Sanjay Kapoor stood out as a perennially pissed off husband, released, and the actor is pleased that people continue to praise his performance. After following it up with The Zoya Factor, in which he played niece Sonam Ahuja’s father, the actor is currently reading scripts, hoping to land important characters that make a difference to the story. “The length of a role never mattered to me, even when I started out. When my own brother (Boney) was producing Koi Mere Dil Se Poochhe, I wanted to play the negative role even though the character only appeared on screen at interval point,” he points out.

Boney’s daughter Janhvi made a successful debut with Dhadak last year. Now buzz is, Sanjay’s daughter Shanaya will be launched next year. She recently served as an assistant director on cousin Janhvi’s Gunjan Saxena biopic, a Karan Johar production. Will Shanaya be introduced by KJo as well? “Nothing is finalised yet. If the right project happens tomorrow, Shanaya is ready for it,” he states.

When asked why she didn’t pursue formal training at a film institute, Sanjay says his daughter was keen on hands-on experience. “Shanaya told me that going there (film school) would be a waste of three years and reasoned that most attend classes for three days and party for the rest of the week,” he reasons. “Being an AD teaches you to interact with everyone, from the spotboys to the producer, and learn to value people after becoming an actor.”

Sanjay’s last film as a producer was five years ago, the Arjun Kapoor, Sonakshi Sinha and Manoj Bajpayee-starrer Tevar, and he has no plans to return anytime soon. “Right now, I’m busy as an actor,” he concludes.