Shanaya Kapoor, daughter of actor Sanjay Kapoor and former model Maheep Kapoor, is all set to make her Bollywood debut with Karan Johar's Dharma Productions. However, this development doesn’t seem to be going well with a few netizens. Her upcoming Hindi film debut has yet again sparked the nepotism debate. And the aspiring actor feels she will have to work hard to impress her audience.
Shanaya Kapoor believes that being a star kid has its own set of pros and cons. In an interaction with ANI news agency, the 21-year-old actress opened up about how she deals with judgements that come along with the "star kid" tag.
"Judgements are an inevitable part of the work I am pursuing, but I stay positive and focus on the people who are always cheering me on, whether it be followers on Instagram or the press/media, I focus on their love and support, then the rest just fades out for me! Focusing on the positives is the way to be," she said.
Shanaya was recently seen in an ad, which showed off her acting skills. The ad was also shared by filmmaker Karan Johar on his Instagram account. Shanaya has also worked as an assistant director on Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl, starring her cousin Janhvi Kapoor.
Shanaya shared how these experiences helped her understand the functioning of the industry and said, "Being a part of Gunjan Saxena was extremely special, and a very important journey for me to undergo before I started my career. I wanted to learn how a film is made, what the process is like, what are the aligned jobs for everyone on set, how actors prep for their roles, how background action works, there was so much I got to understand.”
She said, “It was a wonderful, fulfilling and enriching experience to see the entire team work towards one goal, it's so wholesome making a film." The starlet added that her biggest takeaway as assistant director was learning how the process before reaching set is the defining foundation of creating the story.
Shanaya is currently prepping up for her debut film. Karan Johar has reportedly passed on the directorial baton for her launch film to his trusted filmmaker, Shashank Khaitan. The shoot for the upcoming project will kick off in the month of December in Mumbai.
The upcoming project will also feature Guilty actor Gurfateh Singh Pirzada and will also mark the debut of newbie Lakshya Lalwani. Lakshya was earlier slated to make his debut with Karan Johar’s now-deferred Dostana 2, co-starring Janhvi Kapoor. It has been delayed after Kartik Aaryan's ouster.
Image Source: Instagram/shanayakapoor02