Abhishek Bachchan says ‘well done Jijaji’ as Kunal Kapoor wins debut award again

Abhishek Bachchan turned cheerleader for his cousin-in-law, Kunal Kapoor, after his big win at the inaugural OTTPlay Awards. Kunal, who made his acting debut 17 years ago, won the Best Debut Male award for his work in his first OTT project The Empire. As Kunal reflected upon getting a debut award 17 years after his debut, Abhishek noted that he still looks like a newcomer. Also Read| OTTplay Awards 2022 winners: Kartik Aaryan, Taapsee Pannu win big

The Empire, an Indian period drama web series that premiered on Disney+ Hotstar in August last year, starred Kunal Kapoor alongside Shabana Azmi, Dino Morea, Drashti Dhami, and Aditya Seal among others. After winning the best debut award for his portrayal of Babur in the series, Kunal took to his Twitter account to celebrate his win.

Sharing pictures of him with his award, Kunal wrote, “Apparently, there is a second time for everything too! Who would have thought 17 years later I’d win a best debut acting award AGAIN!” Abhishek Bachchan, whose cousin Naina Bachchan is married to Kunal, was among the first ones to congratulate Kunal on his win.

Abhishek wrote, “Well done Jijaji!!!! So well deserved. Don’t know about second chances etc. You certainly still look like a newcomer!!” Kunal Kapoor tied the knot with Naina, the niece of Amitabh Bachchan and daughter of his younger brother Ajitabh Bachchan in 2015, becoming Abhishek’s ‘Jijaji’.

Kunal Kapoor started his career in the Hindi film industry as an assistant director of Aks (2001), which starred Manoj Bajpayee and Amitabh Bachchan among others. He made his acting debut in 2004 with Meenaxi: A Tale of Three Cities, which also starred Tabu and Raghuvir Yadav. He got more recognition with his portrayal of Aslam in his next film Rang De Basanti, which also earned him a Filmfare nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He was last seen in the 2021 Netflix film Ankahi Kahaniya.