Shashi Kapoor’s grandson, Zahan Kapoor, candidly shared his grief over not being able to perform for his late grandfather. He cherishes memories of Shashi Kapoor as a family man and recalls his early passion for filmmaking and dedication to his craft. Zahan aims to uphold the Kapoor legacy with integrity and authenticity in his own acting career.
Zahan Kapoor is still learning to live with the absence of his grandfather, screen legend Shashi Kapoor. In a recent conversation with entertainment outlet Mid-day, the young actor opened up about childhood memories, the pain of not performing in front of his grandfather, and his determination to carry forward the iconic Kapoor legacy with honesty and heart.
Remembering a grandfather before a superstar
For Zahan, Shashi Kapoor was first and foremost family, not a distant star. Reflecting on their bond, he shares that his grandfather was deeply woven into his early years.”He is much more than just a grandfather than he is anything else because he retired when I was born, and then by the time I became a young adult, he was quite sick,” Zahan told Mid-day. The actor admits that one regret still weighs on him. “I was not able to share my love of this craft and this world with him and I feel quite sad that I was not able to do that. He did not see me perform.”Zahan has already made his mark with projects like ‘Faraaz’ and ‘Black Warrant’, yet his journey is shadowed by the feeling that the person who inspired so much of his inner world never got to witness his work.
A quiet legacy of integrity and hard work
In his chat with Mid-day, Zahan also revealed a lesser-known side of Shashi Kapoor. Before he became the beloved star of films such as ‘Deewaar’, ‘Kabhie Kabhie’ and ‘Satyam Shivam Sundaram’, Shashi was drawn to the craft behind the camera. “He was interested in filmmaking, and he had a little camera, and they would shoot and try and make little movies at home with his best friend Prayag. It was just lovely,” Zahan recalled.He also shared a lighthearted anecdote about his grandfather’s legendary work ethic. “He was at one point called a taxi driver and he was working multiple shifts on the same day so he was going from one set to the other set back to back, just working like continuously in different films.”As he looks ahead, Zahan keeps his guiding principle simple. “If I can have integrity and authenticity, I will be just fine,” he said, hoping to honor not only a celebrated filmography but also the values of the man behind it.
