Shahid Kapoor: People have many options for content because of OTT and they are happy about it

Shahid Kapoor has been in the entertainment industry for almost two decades. He has a mix of experimental and commercial cinema to his name. Known for roles in Jab We Met, Kaminey, Haider and Kabir Singh, the actor has established his calibre and acting prowess. On completing almost two decades in the entertainment industry, the Jersey actor opened up about his growing up years and his exposure to cinema since the days he could remember. 

In an interview with Times of India, the actor said he grew up watching films that had originality and 'well-fleshed out stories'. " I watched a lot of my father, Pankaj Kapur’s works. My mother, Neelima, was a classical dancer and the exposure I had to the exponents of classical dance and music was of another kind and sensibility, thanks to her. I absorbed and assimilated these things in my system and they subconsciously have shaped my thinking in many ways," he told the daily. He grew up watching films of Amitabh Bachchan, Dilip Kumar, Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan and others. 

He feels cinema has gone through several phases in the country. He said there were fewer choices earlier and that limited the freedom of thought for both artiste and audience. The content made was measured and while he says, it had a lot to do with what the audience wanted to watch and also the fear of trying something new. "When people do that, they limit themselves and the audience. Without experiencing something, how do you expect to know whether they will like something or not? What choice does the audience have?," he said. He added that when he entered the show business, the kind of content he chose were considered risky but he anyway took up projects like Haider, Udta Punjab, Kaminey, Jab We Met, which he says is closer to the kind of cinema that he wanted to be a part of. 

In the last decade, the Kaminey actor says cinema has evolved a lot with newer formats and platforms. The audience grew as cinema travelled across the globe and experiment cinema started doing better than what many had expected. Content from different languages started being consumed multifold. "People have consumed content across a variety of subjects on OTT platforms for a small subscription. As opposed to entering an ice cream store and choosing between mango, vanilla and chocolate, they now have many new options and they’re happy about that,” the actor said.

Meanwhile, Shahid Kapoor will be seen next in Jersey, a sports drama. The Gowtam Tinnanuri directorial is based on the Telugu film of the same name that featured Nani. The drama is about a talented cricketer who decides to get back to the sport in his late thirties to play for the Indian cricket team and get a jersey for his son to fulfil his birthday wish.