Shahid Kapoor Opens Up About Playing Alcoholic And Drug Addict Characters In Films Despite Being A Teetotaller

When you look back at Ishq Vishk which came out in 2003, it is almost impossible to fathom how far Shahid Kapoor has come as an actor. While he always showed promise, even in frivolous roles, it took us till Kaminey to realize what a dynamite this actor is.

From then till now, Shahid has given many performances which has set the bar high for acting in Bollywood. But if you look closely at his career, some of his best performances, apart from Haider, definitely include Udta Punjab and Kabir Singh are basically characters that are fighting substance abuse issues. While it is anyway challenging to play alcoholics or drug addicts on screen, for Shahid its even more difficult given he is a teetotaler in real life.

Recently, he opened up about the challenges of essasying such characters on screen. Shahid said, “I don’t touch alcohol. People who do are comfortable having it for a scene. It’s not something I’d like to try. That’s why such roles (Kabir Singh and Udta Punjab) are challenging for me as an actor. It takes a lot more work trying to understand how an alcoholic behaves or feels. I might have come across people like that. But that’s an external experience. If you want to internalise it, then you need to connect with the emotions.”

When asked about why he gets attracted to portraying such characters on screen, Shahid says, “Why have we loved Mr Bachchan playing ‘an angry young man’ down the years? Why is Devdas considered a classic? Why Robert De Niro and Al Pacino are considered the greatest actors in the world? Why is Haider one of the greatest films in my career? Why is Vishal Bhardwaj considered one of the greatest filmmakers? Grey characters are exciting. Filmmaking is an art. The more complex the art form, the more commendable it becomes. When you see a performance, which is complex and demanding, you appreciate more.”

Well we dare not disagree with Kabir Singh! We just hope he keeps dishing out such delightful performances for us to savor and announces his next film soon.