HYDERABAD: "I’m sorry I got late! My flight was late and then I ate a lot of biryani,” says Rhea Kapoor right off the bat before an interaction session hosted by FICCI Flo began at ITC Kakatiya on Monday. Her opening line pretty much sums up the kind of person Rhea is – cheeky and audacious. In conversation with Malliha Fatima, a fashionista herself, Rhea settled in for a chat.
Never an actor despite coming from a Kapoor family – a filmy family – Rhea had always known that she never wanted to be an actress. “Ayan Mukerji met me once in Mumbai, just two weeks after I was back from NYU. I had graduated and didn’t really know what to do. He asked me to work on set with him for his film, Wake Up Sid. On day one, I knew I never wanted to be an actress. There is a lot that the actor does on shoot and a lot that other technicians have to add to. I am too much of a control freak to have my work altered,” she says.
Not just the profession itself, Rhea also steers clear of the attention. She admits, “I am a private person. I like to go out, meet friends and have my own space. I don’t like the attention at all.”
Rheason with her
As a designer and a fashionista herself, she had qualms about how fashion was considered here in India. “I realised that Indian women have a specific body type. It isn’t athletic like European standards or heavily curvy. It falls somewhere in between,” she says recalling, “I once met a Russian designer who was baffled by Indian women. They are conservative, but still want to be sexy. Women in India have a lot of inhibitions when it comes to clothes and we had to keep that in mind when we made clothes. All our designs we try out with girls and women in the studio or at Shoppers Stop rather than models. The average height in India is 5’4 unlike women in European countries so we cater to them particularly.”
“I want to earn my privilege”
Having the Kapoor name to back her up, Rhea, daughter of actor Anil Kapoor and sister of Sonam Kapoor, both Bollywood stars, is aware of her privilege. “I get to take risks and do everything I can because I have the privilege. I want to earn it with everything I have. No one else would be able to have the financial backing, family support or the reputation that my father earned and I want to make the best use of it. Otherwise, its 35 years of my father’s hard work down the drain,” she concludes.
Tidbits
One star you want to style: Anushka Sharma. I feel like that’s the kind of fashion vibe I want to work with.
One film of your father’s you wish you had done: Gharwali Baharwali. It was hideous. But I guess my dad would agree, his style was terrible until I came into his life.
What are you currently working on: Two movies and web series. And I plan on starting a new line exclusive for Indowestern fashion.