MUMBAI: Bollywood star Shahid Kapoor on Thursday said he was keen to do a love story post his 2019 blockbuster "Kabir Singh" but took his time to find a worthy story to tell on the big screen.
The 42-year-old actor has delivered some of the most commercially-successful romantic movies of the past two decades, starting from his debut "Ishq Vishq" to movies like "Chup Chup Ke", "Vivah", "Jab We Met" and "Kabir Singh".
Shahid's upcoming movie is romantic comedy "Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya", in which he is paired opposite Kriti Sanon.
"I have been missing doing something light and fun definitely but honestly it is the most difficult genre to crack. I listen to ten scripts a month. People don't know that but there is so much to hear. I know people tell me 'Aur picture karo' but it is so difficult to find scripts that you feel that you are going to offer the audience something new. Love stories are the most difficult genre to do," Shahid told reporters at the film's trailer launch event here.
"Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya", dubbed as an "impossible love story", is written and directed by first-time filmmakers Amit Joshi and Aradhana Sah.
The actor said the film is the answer to a question that he ponders about -- "What is it that you can do in a love story?" Post his 2019 movie "Kabir Singh" in which he played an aggressive lover, the actor said he was looking for something new in the romance genre.
"When I did 'Kabir Singh', the character was new for me, the entire journey, the way the entire relationship was, it was shocking but it was new. Post that I didn't hear anything that exciting. Then this film (came) and I was like, 'This is it. We have to tell a love story that hasn't been told before."
"Will people like it or not, will they accept it or not, that's the journey you have to take as an artist and as a creative person," he added.
"Kabir Singh" had received polarising reviews and its director, Sandeep Reddy Vanga, was criticised for perpetuating toxic masculinity.
The film, however, was a huge box office success.
Produced by Dinesh Vijan's Maddock Films, "Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya" features Shahid as a man who falls in love and decides to marry a robot, named Sifra (Sanon).
The actor said the film gave him a break from the intense movies that he did in the recent past.
His most recent feature was Ali Abbas Zafar-directed "Bloody Daddy" and the actor also made his OTT series debut with "Farzi".
"It had been long since I'd done a film like that, I was doing slightly intense roles. What we brought to the genre was Kriti, because we haven't done a movie together," he said.
"I feel Sifra, which is Kriti's character in this film, is what's new about this love story. I found it fascinating when I heard the script that somebody could come up with an idea like that in 2024," he added.
Kriti, 33, said she was keen to do a love story and is grateful to Vijan's for offering her "Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya."
"It's my seventh film with Maddock and what's amazing is that every time I work with Maddock, there's something different, which is pushing the envelope and is exciting. I've been dying to do a love story. We (Shahid and I) were supposed to work about eight years ago and it didn't happen and I think there's a right time for every time, and this film does full justice. It's a quirky film, it's a funny film, this robot is extremely funny, at the heart of it, it's a love story," she said.
The actor previously worked with Maddock for films "Raabta", "Luka Chuppi", "Arjun Patiala", "Mimi", "Hum Do Hamare Do" and "Bhediya".
"Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya" will also feature veteran actors Dharmendra and Dimple Kapadia in pivotal roles.
The movie, produced by Vijan, Jyoti Deshpande and Laxman Utekar, is set to release in theatres on February 9.