Kaminey Special: In the world of Fahid Kapoor

Oh yes, he’s dignified. Shahid Kapoor seems long, slender, impossibly serpentine – and anything but 29 – as he uncurls himself from the sofa of his vanity van where he’s getting ready to go to Yash Raj Studios.
Dressed in a white tee and a grey shirt unbuttoned over it, he rises to his full height and steps out, which is considerable, and greets me warmly with a strong handshake and a ‘How ya doin’?’
Even the most banal conversational gambit sounds like mood music when purred in that warm and smoky baritone. He is in the best shape of his life: Strong, sturdy and sly. Just like Charlie in Kaminey. But before he was Charlie, he was once a boy.
‘The journey from a boy to a man and to a kamina now has been interesting. It’s exciting and has shown new sides of myself. I’ve learnt a lot on the film and while working with Vishal Bhardwaj.
I’ve become a lot more self assured, ready to take risks, do something new and different. I think doing something different is easy but doing something different where you can reach out to your audience is a tough one.’
And was he tough in his school days? Was he as bad as Charlie was in the film? I ask him. ‘I was a bit of Charlie, the bad guy and Guddu, the good guy. When I was in Delhi I was Charlie. It was home ground for me. I was born there. I had been in the same school and was the big boss.
The school was next to my locality in my area where I lived. When I came to Mumbai, I became a bit like Guddu because I was an outcast. I had a different accent. I came here when I was in fifth standard and didn’t know how to relate with people.