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Rajiv Vijayakar meets Shraddha Kapoor and Taaha Shah, who will be featuring in Yash Raj Films’ new banner, Y Films, that will focus on making cinema for, by, and of the youth.
For Yash Raj Films, it’s been a tradition to introduce newcomers, and their list includes Poonam Dhillon, Farooque Sheikh and Farah. But this time, Hindi cinema’s prime banner has launched Y Films, a division that will make films for, by and of the youth and Shraddha Kapoor (who made a mark in her small role in Teen Patti in 2009) is being reintroduced, while Taaha Shah, an NRI, is being launched along with others on- and off-screen, in Y Films’ first venture, Love Ka The End.
The reserved and introverted Taaha is a perfect complement to Shraddha, the chirpy daughter of Shakti Kapoor, veteran character actor, and Shivangi Kolhapure, actress and singer. “As a kid, my mom would incite me to ransack her cupboard, wear some of her clothes, apply make-up and do thumkas to the songs of Sridevi in front of the mirror while she would quietly shoot me with a video camera!” recalls Shraddha. “Those videos now are my treasures because even before I knew that I wanted to become an actor, which was anyway in my blood, my mother had sensed my talent!”
But when her parents suggested that she take up acting, Shraddha perversely decided to do the exact opposite! “Though I did a bit of theatre, I became very studious and was considering taking up medicine as a career. But destiny had other plans,” she says.
Taaha’s father is from Madurai in Tamil Nadu and his mother hails from Bijapur. He was born and brought up in Dubai. “I began my own business in real estate and later joined my mother who was into construction, even beginning a new business in steel,” says Taaha, seriously. “I would do modelling once in a while and I was always fascinated by Indian films and actors, especially Dharmendra. I remember that I would hate waking up early for unloading steel shipments but never minded shoots at dawn!” This realisation made Taaha join the New York Film Academy’s Abu Dhabi branch, but he left the course midway, as advised by his parents, and moved to Mumbai since he was serious about pursuing a career in films. “I joined Kishore Namit Kapoor’s training centre and I learnt the nuances of acting. I also trained myself in martial arts like parkour,” he adds.
There were hiccups initially, like being rejected for a UK-based film and a leg fracture that made Taaha forgo a Cornetto ad. “So one day, I just sent this mass mail to a lot of people asking for work,” says Taaha. “No one replied, but some days later, YRF’s casting director Shanoo Sharma called me up. My audition was really challenging — I had to do a sequence from the film and an improvisation of someone who is uncontrollably scratching himself to check if I had inhibitions of any kind as an actor. Six days after that I was signed on for the film!”
Shraddha was given her first by producer Ambika Hinduja, who is her brother’s friend. “She gave me Teen Patti and I thought that there couldn’t be a better debut for me, especially when both Amitabh Bachchan and Ben Kingsley were also a part of the film!” smiles the actress. “Unfortunately, it didn’t do well and I was offered Love Ka The End at a time when I was feeling low and I jumped at the opportunity. A friend suggested that I meet Ashish Patil, who had taken over Y Films for YRF. They treated me as a newcomer and a gruelling audition of five sequences and three songs later, I was chosen!”
Shraddha raves about the immaculate planning of the banner. “We completed the film in 60 shooting days and I learnt much more on the sets of this film than on my first movie. I even corrected all my technical mistakes and deficiencies. Ashish and our director Bumpy, (whose real name she is not supposed to reveal under a contract clause) were very patient.” In the film, Shraddha portrays an avenging girlfriend who teaches her errant boyfriend a lesson.
Taaha, who plays the boyfriend, says that he loves playing gray roles as they have layers that challenge the actor in him. “My first shot was done at Madh Island near Mumbai amidst 150 people and I just blanked out. But I told myself I had to give it my best shot. Love Ka The End was a wonderful experience. Bumpy would give these weird and bizarre examples to spell out what he wanted from me, but it was these instances that precisely helped me grasp things faster.“
The film releases on May 6 and both the lead actors want to judge the response to the film before making their next professional move. They both have the usual three-film contracts with Yash Raj Films but they are non-exclusive and they are free to work with any other production house. As for their easy friendship, the rapport built up slowly but steadily. “Taaha was a bit reserved and we gradually opened up to each other,” recalls Shraddha. Taaha adds, “Earlier, we had a very professional relationship,” he smiles. “I never knew till much later that she was Shakti Kapoor’s daughter. We are very comfortable with each other and I hope that we get to work together in more films in the future.”
