Shakti Kapoor in Anari Is Back with Anita Raaj

He is often monikered as Crime Master Gogo or Balma, but the real Shakti Kapoor is far removed from the loud villainous characters he has essayed over the last four decades. However, the tide is changing in his favour as he is now being offered character-oriented and positive roles. The actor credits this new lease of life to the OTT boom. “Directors are offering me completely different characters today,” says the actor who was last seen in Parchhayee: Ghost Stories by Ruskin Bond, Bravehearts—The Untold Stories of Heroes, and Netflix’s Guilty Minds.

Changing his image in the minds of the audience, who assumed that Kapoor was like the roles he played on screen, was not an easy journey. “Earlier, I had the controversial image attached to me. I wasn’t happy with it, but kept quiet and let my work do the talking. One day, my children—Siddhant and Shraddha—told me that I should stop doing bad films just for the money. They believed it was better that I sat at home and watched movies instead. [Now, I get to] play a father, husband, and family-oriented roles, that’s the real me,” reflects the FTII Pune graduate, who accepts that the antagonist roles he portrayed on screen were his “bread and butter”.

“Though I was appreciated for my role in Shyam Benegal’s Zubeidaa [2001], I didn’t get similar offers after that.”

Up next, Kapoor has Aleya Sen’s Trial Period. “It’s a beautiful, positive, and quirky character which will make you laugh and cry,” says the actor, and adds, “I also have a Hollywood series shooting for which begins in August. Post that, I am doing a thriller with Bejoy Nambiar.”

Kapoor has completed the shooting of Pahlaj Nihalani’s Anari Is Back also, featuring Mithun Chakraborty and Anita Raaj.