Despite the 15-year age gap between them, half-brothers Shahid Kapoor and Ishaan Khatter are as close as can be.
Shahid Kapoor was promoting his upcoming film, Kabir Singh (2019), with co-star Kiara Advani on the Colors Infinity chat show BFFs with Vogue, hosted by Neha Dhupia, where he spoke about his relationship with Khatter.
Dhupia asked Kapoor what he learns from the newcomer who made his Hindi film debut with Dhadak (2018).
“There is always more to learn from people who are younger than you,” Kapoor replied, “because they are more with it, so to say, and you obviously learn from experience, so obviously I have learnt a lot from my parents, but with Ishaan, it’s always a fresh perspective. I think Ishaan and Mira [Shahid's wife] fall in the same category, they are also kind of the same age, so their opinion is kind of invaluable and they will always tell you something that you don’t expect, like it will always be something different and that helps you understand and stay connected with that age group.”
The actor added that the two talk as friends and don’t think about the age gap. “We talk about movies, he is very obsessive about his analysis of my performances, so sometimes I am scared to ask him what he thought of my performance and I am limited in how much I tell him about his, because he is new and I don’t want to be that overbearing brother who has too much of an opinion,” Kapoor said.
“I want him to find his own personality and be himself. People need to relate to him as him because this whole brother-sister mother-father, that’s all very nice for a little bit and after that people want to, either you build a relationship with them as an artist or you don’t. And I always felt he had the potential,” Kapoor continued.
As the older brother who has been there done that, Kapoor had some sage advice for the young actor.
“I just hope he keeps his head on his shoulders and he focuses on his work. And he has got success young and he has got it early. I have been there so I understand the good and the bad of it. And I will always be there in case I feel he is doing something which he shouldn’t be, because I have learnt from my own mistakes so he has that advantage of having me there,” he added.
“What I learnt from him? I respect his opinion as much as I would my father’s because it’s relevant in different ways,” the actor said finally.
Kabir Singh (2019), directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga, is due to be released in theatres on 21 June.