Shahid Kapoor says Kabir Singh’s stupendous success helped reinforce the actor’s belief in himself
Prashant Singh (HINDUSTAN TIMES; December 12, 2019)

Several Hindi films have hit bull’s eye at the box office this year. But of these, the Shahid Kapoor-starrer Kabir Singh surely shines bright as one of the biggest money spinners of 2019. And the actor is aware of the impact his big hit has had on him — as an actor and otherwise, too.

“Usually, an actor’s film does ₹70 crore and then ₹100 crore, then ₹140 crore and ₹170 crore, and finally ₹200-crore plus. But my solo films never went above ₹70 crore and now, it’s straight at ₹280 crore (smiles). That jump is so big, it gives you clarity that yeh maine nahi kiya hai, yeh ho gaya hai,” he explains.

Shahid, set to start work on his next, Jersey, a remake of the Telugu sports drama of the same name, feels that he just has to be “aware of my responsibility now”.

“At the same time, I feel I have had a certain work process which got me here. So, there’s no need to change it. If I got here by doing the work I believe in, I should continue the same way. Otherwise, what tends to happen is you start overthinking (on scoring such a big hit) and ‘Ab main kya karoon’. But I’m like, ‘Kucch nahi karna hai, bas kaam karna hai’,” he says.

The Haider (2014) actor also feels a “sense of relief” that he reached out to the masses with his last release. “To see Kabir Singh become one of the top 10 grossers of all time is a relief because I always believed that I had the potential in me to be able to talk to a very wide audience as an actor. However, it never happened. Some films did well and some didn’t, and they were always in a certain kind of range,” he admits.

Yet, reflecting on some of his previous hits, Shahid feels a few of them did appeal to a large audience. “I think many years back, Vivah (2006) and Jab We Met (2007) had reached a very wide audience. Then, I did Padmaavat (2018) which went wide but that film wasn’t focused or centered around me. But Kabir Singh is where I felt that everything was on my shoulders as I could feel that this film was all about me. When such a film gets that kind of love, it definitely makes you feel different,” the actor says.

Interestingly, right before Kabir Singh came along, Shahid says he had certain thoughts about resetting his goals and processes. “See, I have been doing this (acting) for 15 years and there’s a part of you that starts to feel, ‘Am I overestimating my own self?’ or ‘Am I thinking that I can be something which I’m probably not meant to be?’ Or ‘Should I change my plans and goals, bring it a bit down and be a little more realistic?’ Those thoughts had crossed my mind,” he adds.