Zahan Kapoor: 'I was terrified of being launched as a Kapoor'

Zahan Kapoor, fresh off the success of the hit show Black Warrant, speaks about making his own way as a lesser known Kapoor, his beginnings in theatre, and growing up with star cousins Ranbir, Karisma and Kareena

Star kids are not discovered. They are launched, unless you are Zahan Kapoor. He made his screen debut three years ago with Hansal Mehta’s poignant drama Faraaz, but his breakout role finally came three weeks ago, with Vikramaditya Motwane’s prison drama series, Black Warrant. Audience praise for his turn as a rookie jailer grew into curiosity, and viewers slowly learned that a new Kapoor had entered the industry. 

Kapoor  is the grandson of Shashi Kapoor, grandnephew of Raj Kapoor, nephew of Rishi Kapoor, and second cousin of Ranbir, Kareena and Karisma. On the maternal side, he is the grandson of veteran filmmaker Ramesh Sippy. As he speaks to us, sitting by Prithvi Theatre—also second home to him—Kapoor is happy his surname reached the audience after his work. “I am proud that my work has spoken before me,” he smiles.

Zahan Kapoor played the lead character in Black Warrant

Not that the actor’s debut had gone unnoticed. Whoever watched Faraaz reserved praised for him, but it didn’t translate into an immediate buzz around him. He must have been advised to hire a PR, at least? “Yes, but that’s a lot of money also and I don’t have that kind of money. I know no one will believe me.” That’s not the only unbelievable, rather unexpected, aspect of the young actor’s journey. “I didn’t know what the relevance of my family was growing up,” he shares. It was a lot to do with both his parents—Kunal Kapoor and Sheena Sippy—not working in the film industry. 

“I didn’t have that ‘filmy bubble’ pressure. I was very separated from it, which I am very grateful for, because it helped me to stay connected to the world. I was exposed to the world at large,” he says. Even before he aspired to be an actor, Kapoor  was passionate about horse riding, which took him to different cities in the north, opening up his world-view further. 

Zahan Kapoor is the grandson of Shashi Kapoor, grandnephew of Raj Kapoor, nephew of Rishi Kapoor, and second cousin of Ranbir, Kareena and Karisma

When the films and storytelling bug finally bit him, the pursuit of an authentic connection with his prospective audience also brought the need to learn the language to communicate with them. “No one in my family speaks in Hindi. And in school, I had dropped out it [Hindi elective]. That was the main issue for me,” he recalls, “I am dyslexic— I am a visual thinker. I had a really hard time in school and languages were especially difficult for me.”

Tell him that the Internet has taken note of his command over Hindi, which seems to be a disadvantage of many of his contemporaries belonging to film families, and he promptly replies, “Theatre ki wajah se. Woh bhi maine prayas kiya hai. Abhyas karte raho (It’s because of theatre. I worked hard at it, you have to keep practising).”

“I read short stories, poetry, and literature. Currently, I am reading a lot of mythology. Manav Kaul has written such lovely short stories. He has such a lovely contemporary voice. I am reading Purano ki Kahaniyan. I keep going back to Manto, Harishankar Parsai is hilarious,” he adds.

Kapoor says he also relied on the companions he has curated over the last decade. “I surrounded myself with people from different backgrounds. People I can listen to, learn from and grow… I like language and articulation, because that’s how you connect with someone. I still struggle. I want to be good enough to really write and have control, to write real poetry,” he says. 

Of course, the rest of his family is already in awe of his skill with the language. “My family thinks I speak marvellous Hindi. They say, ‘Waah, your Hindi is the best’. And I tell them, ‘That’s because I worked the hardest’,” he laughs.

Theatre was not just the proving ground for his Hindi skills, but also his acting chops, and this was intentional. He  was terrified of being launched as a Kapoor kid that he decided to take what he calls a “rooted approach”. “Not that people were saying, ‘This is the next hero’. That was never the case,” he says, “People looked at me with doubt, thinking ‘Do you have it in you?’ Some were okay to take a chance on me because I had the name. But I didn’t want to risk my entire career on a chance that someone would take only because I am a Kapoor. Which is why I decided to do theatre and learn my craft,” he says. 

The result was he debuted on stage with Pitaji Please before making it to the silver screen. In between Faraaz and Black Warrant, the actor also did another play, Siachen, co-created with his Faraaz co-star Aditya Rawal. 

He credits his parents for making it clear since the beginning that he would have to stand on his own feet. “My parents told me, ‘We will emotionally support you but won’t call people and ask them to cast you’.” 

“I am not asking for support from my family,” he adds, “I say, ‘I will do it on my own but I will come back to you only to ask how my work was and then you guide me’.”

So, his famous cousins also remained just family, never contacts. Kapoor recalls growing up around his star cousin, Ranbir. “Visiting Ranbir’s house felt slightly different because they were famous and successful. Still, it was very warm. All of us love food, we talk a lot,” he says.

“I used to ask Ranbir a lot of questions and was fascinated that he was working on these big films. Ranbir would talk about his shoots, scripts that excited him or projects that frustrated him,” he recalls. Kapoor is happy that now, for the first time, he is able to share his experiences from the set with them. He tells us that Ranbir recently told him how much he had enjoyed watching Black Warrant.

“My pace is slow. But this is authentic to me. There’s a confidence that comes with slowly doing it. No one handed anything to me; I earned my work,” the newest Kapoor on the block says.

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