Shahid Kapoor, whose projects Farzi and Bloody Daddy made it to the ‘most watched on OTT list’, believes that the very fact people still track viewership numbers means that the numbers game, including at the box office, is always a hot topic.

“I don’t want to be naive. The box office signifies popularity, size of your reach and how many people have consumed your content. That’s never going to change,” shares the actor, adding, “Different types of content are now accepted, maybe writers, directors and actors will feel less boxed in. There’s freedom to express yourself and do different things without a track record to look back on and say, ‘Only this thing works’.”

Kapoor’s next is an untitled theatrical release with actor Kriti Sanon.

While the audience is more discerning today, the 42-year-old looks back at the time when they weren’t influenced by box-office collections. “Earlier, people used to say film achhi thi ya buri thi, but now they are aware of so many things. Sometimes, the audience may not realize they’re being psychologically converted into believing that every successful film (one that rakes in a lot of money at the box office) is a good film.”

Ask how he selects projects he wants to work on and Kapoor says, “I think that the content should land — trends and taste changes, but a good film is a good film. Many people asked me, ‘Why are you doing Farzi after Kabir Singh (2019)?’ [I did it] because it was fantastic content,” he signs off.