Shahid Kapoor: Rawal Ratan Singh was respectful towards women

Padmavati's release is a couple of months away, but the film has already generated a huge buzz after the first looks of artistes Deepika Padukone and Shahid Kapoor received positive reactions.

Kapoor had a Facebook Live chat with his fans where he spoke briefly about Padmavati. The actor plays the role of Rawal Ratan Singh.

Asked which was his most challenging role — Haider (2014) or Padmavati (2017) — Kapoor replied, “Haider, Padmavati. Probably two of my toughest films, and Udta Punjab (2016). These three are my toughest and most challenging films to shoot, but they have also been the most exciting roles (sic).”

Kapoor couldn’t speak much about his character, but he did say that it was a privilege to play the Rajput king.

Asked to describe Rawal Ratan Singh in one word, Kapoor had more than one word to sing praises of the 13th century ruler of Chittor. "He was the most noble, extremely brave, and most respectful to women," he said. "Now that I’m married, I have realized the value of that. It’s tough to play a king from the 13th century. It’s tough to understand the body language, the mindset. I hope you all like it.” 

The actor also praised his Padmavati director Sanjay Leela Bhansali, calling him a genius. "Sanjay sir... (pauses) he is a genius. It is really difficult to expalin the magic of working under him. He is a master craftsman, his understanding of cinema and the in-depth understanding of the various aspects of cinema, music, visual whether drama, emotion, look of his characters, the world he discovers… I have never met a filmmaker with such a vast (pauses)... He has a plethora of things within him. He is a genius guiding you through and making you understand what is there in his head. It has been such a magical journey."

Meanwhile, the actor also revealed that the Rajput bit in his wife Mira Rajput has transferred to him. "The thing with marriage is that... my wife became Mira Rajput Kapoor. So, a little bit of Kapoor has been transferred to her, but little did I know that all of her Rajput would come right back to me while making this film. So apart from the pressure that an actor has, like he needs to satisfy the filmmaker, the audience needs to like his character, he needs to live up to the expectations of the critics and the co-actors. I have the ultimate pressure of living up to my wife, of portraying a Rajput guy," Kapoor said.

Padmavati is set be released on 1 December. You can try to predict the film's box-office performance here.

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