Shraddha Kapoor says she is a ‘take-things-as-they-come kind of person”. But some day, she hopes to live on a farm, grow her own organic vegetables and tend to animals. While she waits for this dream to come true, she is busy fulfilling another childhood dream—that of being a Hindi film heroine. After a not-so-hot start with Teen Patti, Shraddha found her groove with Aashiqui 2 and cemented her position as an actress to look out for with Ek Villain and brief-but-important outing in Haider. The 26-year-old is all set to unveil a new, sexier avatar in Remo Fernandes’ ABCD2.
“I am glad that people have liked all the hard work we’ve put in. I want to do something different every time I am on the screen. I want people to believe that I am a professional dancer. All the dancing for this film changed me physically. I am a lot more agile and leaner than I used to be. By the time we finished rehearsals, I felt like a real dancer. It helped that we were dancing with real dancers who had also been a part of ABCD,” reveals Shraddha.
For the film, Shraddha and her co-star Varun Dhawan learnt hip-hop, krumping, house, among other styles. Before they started shooting, the duo watched the first film of the dance franchise and, of course, there were many, many rehearsals. Shraddha even injured herself during the rehearsal. “When we started preparing for this film, I was like a kid in a candy store. I wanted do everything at the same time. It’s common sense that you stretch before you started dancing. In my excitement to do a spilt, I forgot to stretch. When I tried standing from the spilt, I felt a cramp in my leg. It was really bad,” she remembers. Shraddha ended up nursing an injury for almost a month.
The film teams her up with a childhood friend—Varun for the first time. Though the Juhu kids didn’t attend the same school, they met often on the sets of Varun’s father David Dhawan’s films that Shraddha’s father Shakti Kapoor was an integral part of. “If you know someone from before, it always helps in your performance,” believes Shraddha. She adds, “Varun is a fantastic person and he is very passionate about his work. As a co-star, he is amazing to work with because he is so hardworking and supportive. This is the first time I was dancing in a film and he was very encouraging.”
The two have also sung for ABCD2. While Varun has rapped, Shraddha has sung an unplugged version of Bezubaan Phir Se. “I quite like Varun’s rap,” she gushes, adding, “I am so happy that the response to my song has been so amazing as well.” This is not the first time Shraddha has sung for the film. Her singing debut was for Ek Villain and then she sang a Kashmir folk song for Haider. Interestingly, the actress is not formally trained in music. “The most I would have trained must have been a week with my granddad (Pandharinath Kolhapure, who is a classical singer and related to the Mangeshkar sisters). I guess I get my talent from him and mom. She is an amazing singer.”
Talking of family, Shraddha of late has been in the news for wanting to move out of her parents’ home. But this is not the first time, the young actress has wanted to set up home. Around the time she was shooting for Aashiqui 2, Shraddha rented an apartment and even spend two months decorating it. “I moved there bag and baggage, with my dog. And, that’s when I realised that that apartment was on a flight path.” After five sleepless nights she moved back into her parent’s place.
Shraddha is back to looking for a pad to call her own. Her criteria are simple: the apartment needs to have a killer view and should be close to her parents’ home. But for now, the plan’s on the backburner because she is going to be busy shooting for Rock On!! 2 and Baagi opposite Tiger Shroff.