It was 3 am. Zahan Kapoor was working as an assistant director on a film. He was only 17 then. Zahan called his father (Kunal Kapoor) and said, “I found my happiness.”
“People are working here for a cause; a cause bigger than them. They are creating something – here lies my happiness,” Zahan Kapoor fondly recalls at NDTV Yuva when asked about a moment of his accomplishment.
Shashi Kapoor’s grandson, Ranbir and Kareena Kapoor’s cousin Zahan had a low-key film debut with Hansal Mehta’s Faraaz (2022). Vikramaditya Motwane’s Black Warrant was his fifth work which, actually, brought him to the limelight. The Kapoor prodigy has no qualms about not having a “rocket” launch. He has a purpose in life; a clarity that makes him persevere without spending much thought about success, fame and the perks of stardom.
For the unversed, Zahan Kapoor is also the grandson of Ramesh Sippy, the director of cult Sholay.
Asked about when he watched Sholay for the first time, Zahan shared a funny anecdote.
“For me, Hrithik Roshan was the first superstar. I went crazy when Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai released. I watched it time and again. I had a sheer black shirt (Hrithik Roshan wore in the song Ek Pal Ka Jeena). One day I told my mom that there can’t be a better film than Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai. Then my mother asked me to watch Sholay. She said you have to watch it. Then I watched the film. I was 12 years back then,” recalls Zahan Kapoor.
When NDTV asked him if he always wanted to be an actor, given his family lineage, Zahan Kapoor says, “It’s a misconception that many film people used to come to our place. Because when I was born, Dadaji (Shashi Kapoor) already retired. There was no pressure on me to join films. People back home used to talk about culture, contemporary politics, society. But they wouldn’t talk about old films.”
“For my surname, I would probably get an easy access to the industry. But my parents always taught me that it’s a tough profession and I have to work hard,” adds Zahan Kapoor.
Talking about his fond memories with grandfather Shashi Kapoor, Zahan says, “He wanted to watch cricket, I wanted to watch cartoon. We used to fight. Dadaji kept a distance from the industry back then. My father was also working in the advertisement world, and not mainstream films. My mother (Sheena Sippy, daughter of Ramesh Sippy) is a photographer. So I grew up in a family which was more into arts than films.”
Zahan Kapoor plays jailer Sunil Gupta in the Netflix original Black Warrant. The series is based on the 2019 non-fiction of a same name by Tihar Jailer by Sunil Gupta and journalist Sunetra Choudhury. Zahan Kapoor received applause for bringing authenticity to his portrayal of a real-life character.
Zahan Kapoor started his career in theatre. His work in the plays Siachen, Pitaji Please was appreciated. He has also shot a series, which will release on Amazon Prime this year.
