SUNDAY POST FEB 8-14
PIYUSH ROY
Earlier this week Shahid Kapoor was awarded his first Filmfare Best Actor trophy for Haider. Earlier this year, he had won the same honour at the Screen awards as well, and it will be pleasantly pleasing to see him win the same at the National film awards later this year. These also are his first awards for acting in a decade plus career that has at least twice before, seen him come close to a best actor win, Jab We Met and Kaminey. Yes, when we think of Jab We Met, performance wise Kareena Kapoor’s livewire act comes to the fore. But we hardly bother a thought around the fact that it shined more… for being fabulously complimented by Shahid’s equally spirited transformation in the film.
Kaminey, I would rate as one of the best double role acts ever seen on Hindi cinema, for its rare achievement of nuance in a much attempted acting challenge often lost in caricature. Every actor worth his mettle on the Hindi cinema has at some point or the other attempted a double role, or played parts with two contrasting character streaks in the same film because of the sheer challenge of possibilities it throws to one’s abilities. Among heroes, Dilip Kumar played the first memorable double role in Ram Aur Shyam (1967), while Hema Malini left a mark with Seeta Aur Geeta (1972) for heroines. Most actors have followed those references, but in Vishal Bharadwaj’s Kaminey we see Shahid go beyond the obvious character rasas (permanent human emotions like love, anger, courage, fear, calm, etc.) of the bold and the weak, to having all the rasas explored in both his characters in sync with their dominant mood type.
Vishal and Shahid, have recreated again, a similar performance magic in Haider. Theirs’ is a fast emerging muse-mentor partnership whose every outing is now worth looking for. Like those of Nargis and Raj Kapoor, Rajesh Khanna and Shakti Samanta, Sanjeev Kumar and Gulzar, Amitabh Bachchan and Manmohan Desai, Sunny Deol and Rajkumar Santoshi, and in recent times, Aishwarya Rai and Sanjay Leela Bhansali, or Urmila Matondkar and Ram Gopal Varma. All the above actors and directors have frequently shined bright in other collaborations too but when they worked with theirperfect or favourite muse, the result was always magical.
‘Magical’ also has been the potential of Shahid, but rarely celebrated and often grudgingly acknowledged. I have never been able to get a fix on that…
Is it because he is not a ‘Kapoor’ from the family of one of the more ‘influential’ Kapoors? Just compare the media buzz Arjun Kapoor for instance, with half as much talent and hardly any ‘solo’ hits has been courting.
Is it because his father, Pankaj Kapoor, a powerhouse of talent himself, does not engage in active public relations for his son like other star fathers? Shahid was never launched by Pankaj Kapoor, and worked under his baton for the first time in Mausam (2011) after having established himself eight years after his Ishq Vishq (2003) debut.
Is it because of his too ‘soft’ a face, which means that he can only look convincing as a romantic hero? One of his actor colleagues had once jokingly said– ‘Shahid has a face that can never go old, even at 50 he will still look convincing as a young boy (which could also imply that his options with roles will start decreasing with age…)’.
But most importantly, I think Shahid’s undoing was his timing of entry. He debuted at a time when the ‘aging’ Khan men of the 1990s’ (Shah Rukh, Salman and Aamir) were still playing boys in popular imagination and that substantial second wave of freshness (led by the like of Ranbir Kapoor and Imran Khan) had yet to happen. Shahid was thus tad too young to be counted among the first challengers to the Khans’ monopoly, Hrithik Roshan-Abhishek Bachchan, and was a bit older to belong to the twenties’ club of Ranbir, Ranvir and Arjun currently leading the charge.
The 34-year-old long player is finally at an interesting phase in his career today, confidently juggling between massy blockbusters like R… Rajkumar and a critical success like Haider (well the life or the choices for an Indian star are never easy).
What films Shahid Kapoor does from now will ascertain his legacy, impact and contribution. That moment for personal tryst with destiny has finally arrived for Shahid, how far or high it goes from here however will now depend on how daring and balanced his next plunge will be!