Arjun Kapoor: I’m entering a better phase of my life

It’s been 10 years since actor Arjun Kapoor began his film career but he refuses to take “anything for granted”. He admits he is getting to live a life he never envisioned for himself.

“As an actor, being an assistant director on set, and being a producer’s son, I know how difficult filmmaking is behind the camera. The biggest lesson I learned over the years is that being in front of the camera is also as much of the hard work. You can’t take it for granted,” says Kapoor, adding, “I’m living the life that I’d never imagined. Right. So I’m grateful and forever happy being part of this profession and just doing good work”.

That has been his driving force in these 10 years. Kapoor entered Bollywood with Ishaqzaade (2012), going on to experiment with different genres and character, which reflects in his work graph with projects such as 2 States, Gunday, Ki & Ka and Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar. Now, he is navigating a new phase of his career with projects such as Ek Villain Returns, Kuttey and The Ladykiller in the pipeline.

The actor goes on to share that the pandemic gave him a chance to reflect on his life and career. “Now that I’ve had time to process during the pandemic about what has happened to my career, and what happened to me personally. So, maybe I’m entering a better phase of my life. And that’s also happened because I’ve gone back to being more instinctive and impulsive and more of an audience member, because I’ve had to sit at home and discover where I was going wrong and reconnect,” he says.

Kapoor also stumbled upon the realisation that he is “resilient as I am able to survive the highs and lows. I get affected, but not enough to get caught up and bogged down”. “I never knew that I was such a secure human being to be able to do all kinds of films and roles that I did,” says the 36-year-old.

He continues, “When I started in this profession, I just wanted to act and make a name for myself. That has always remained constant. When I did Ki & Ka, I didn’t know that the subject would excite people… For instance, in Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar, I didn’t know I had the courage to crossdress in the climax of that film. When I look back, I feel I’m a very strong person to be able to do something like that. I don’t know how many mainstream actors, or so-called commercial heroes would think about doing that”.