Despite the failure of 'Mausam', Shahid had 18 film offers

Actor Shahid Kapoor says that though sometimes even a hit film may not bring in more offers, in his case, despite the failure of his dream project 'Mausam' at the box office in 2011, he had got 18 new projects.

"I went through a phase before 'Vivah', when I had no film offers for six months. That is the only time (when I was out of work). After I did 'Mausam', I had 18 film offers. I was very shocked," Shahid told PTI in an exclusive interview here today.

"And I told my dad (Pankaj Kapoor) that the film ('Mausam') has not done well, why this is happening? I have never had so many film offers. He said since two years I was only working on 'Mausam' and now that the film is released people who were waiting to work with me have come up.

"So sometimes, you have a hit film and don't have offers and vice versa. Just because the film has done well doesn't mean people will come up with offers," he said.

'Mausam' (2011), a romantic film directed by Pankaj Kapoor, had Shahid and Sonam Kapoor in the lead roles. But the film failed to create magic at the box office.

Shahid's latest film 'R Rajkumar' turned out to be a hit and he is very happy with the appreciation he is getting from the audience.

"I am happy that my last film 'R Rajkumar' has done as last couple of years I did not had a successful films. I am really happy with the way people have responded to the film. I have visited theatres and seen it myself. It was very vocal and I felt happy about it. Everything in life is a small milestone and many small milestones build a career. And this is a small milestone for me. I feel there is a long way to go, lot more to achieve and do," he said.

"I am not thinking about the benefits I will get from this film. I have got calls from filmmakers, friends, colleagues appreciating the film and my work. The film is over and released now and I have to focus on other things (films). My process is same even today, do your best, if things don't work out then learn from the mistakes, see what went right and wrong and move on to another film," he added.

Directed by Prabhudeva 'R Rajkumar' is a masala entertainer with elements of action, romance, emotion, song and dance. It is for the first time that Shahid did a film in this genre, which is usually governed by superstars like Salman Khan, Ajay Devgn, Akshay Kumar.

"To be accepted in this genre is difficult. In the younger generation of actors, nobody has done that out and out mass film. So I was worried if I would be able to make that transition and I am happy it turned out well. I get happy when things which I feel I might fail at and when they do well I get very excited. There was fear of failure in this genre," Shahid said.

Though the film did well at the box office but the critics panned it calling it loud no brainer.
"They killed the film. I got bashed up by the critics, but audience said they liked the film. It had the support of the audience, so that was a good feeling. With the amount of criticism the film got it wouldn't have last long, but the audience has showed their love for the film," Shahid said.

The actor has been in the industry since the last ten years and he has seen both good as well bad phases.

"I believe I have to do a better job. I have to focus more on working with right people, because eventually it is the team that makes a film. Earlier, I used to focus on scripts. Now, filmmakers are important just like the script of a film. I want to work with right people and do different kind of roles," he added.

Shahid will be seen next in Vishal Bharadwaj's 'Haider' opposite Shraddha Kapoor.