TRACING HER OWN PATH: THE RISE OF JANHVI KAPOOR

W W W. C A R A S I N D I A . C O M

At 24, the actress asserts herself as one of Bollywood’s greatest promises

TRACING HER OWN PATH: THE RISE OF JANHVI KAPOOR

JAHNVI KAPOOR: A STAR IS BORN BRINGING TALENT TO THE MOVIE INDUSTRY

B

ollywood diva Janhvi Kapoor is just a little over three years old in the movie business. But her exemplary screen presence and exceptional choices of scripts has helped her seamlessly shift from being ‘another star kid’ to ‘an actress of calibre’.

Born into the legendary Kapoor family, Janhvi Kapoor is the dau-

“Things are almost never your birthright.

You always need to prove yourself”

“My family got so much love from the audience.

As a consequence, I have also got some of that love.

I now have to work doubly hard to prove that I deserve it, on my own” says Jahnvi.

ghter of India’s first lady superstar, Sridevi, and producer Boney Kapoor. Her stepbrother Arjun Kapoor and cousin Sonam Kapoor are A-listers in Hindi cinema and so are her uncles Anil Kapoor and Sanjay Kapoor. Being born into a family of stars, Janhvi was always under the spotlight from a young age and wherever she went, the paparazzi frenzy followed.

“In acting, you fool yourself - you mess with yourself into believing things”

Nothing I ever say will do enough justice to what this journey has meant to me. I could have never even dreamt of a creative process that felt so pure,

in every way. And I’m so grateful for all the people that helped make it that way”, says Jahnvi on the first anniversary of the film Gunjan Saxena.

Like most other celebrity kids in Mumbai, Janhvi did her schooling at the famous Dhirubhai Ambani International School.

Janhvi has confessed in interviews that she was an average kid and that most of her studying hours were spent on movie sets along with her parents.

Wanting to become an actor, Janhvi later did an acting course at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in California.

“My attendance in school was 30%. I was always travelling with my parents” Being born into a star family comes with perks but it also has its perils. In 2017, a year before her acting debut, Janhvi was under severe media scrutiny due to her widely noticeable transformed looks. The media claimed that Janhvi who previously had a ‘rounded nose’ suddenly had a perfectly shaped nose. Further, there was also buzz regarding her ‘fuller lips’. However, the actress has never spoken about going through a cosmetic procedure.

“This is where I live, floating between reality and a dream. In moments that haven’t yet been conceived”. Jahnvi gets inspired by nature.

24th February 2018, will always be remembered as a sad day for Indian cinema.

The untimely demise of India’s first superstar not only shook Bollywood but her millions of fans and followers worldwide.

The entire Kapoor clan, except Janhvi, was in Dubai to attend a family wedding. After the wedding festivities, Sridevi decided to stay back for a few more days and it was during this time that she died of accidental drowning in her hotel room. Janhvi is a momma’s girl and she has often stated in interviews how she’d want to see her mother first thing in the morning and also needed her to tuck her into bed. But this unfortunate incident brought out a stronger side in her, just like how her mother would have wanted her to be. After performing her mother’s last rites, Janhvi soon got back to the final schedule of her debut film - Dhadak. In her own words, “If it wasn’t for coming back to the sets of Dhadak or being able to act, I think it would have been much tougher on me.”

Janhvi was always a shutterbug favourite. It is safe to say that she was one of the earliest faces to join the famous ‘gym look bandwagon’ and with her charming allure, the young actor was a social media star even before her big announcement to join Bollywood.

Today, Janhvi commands over 12M followers on Instagram and every time she drops a new picture, it is bombarded with thousands of likes and comments within a few hours of posting.

“My mother told me: ‘to be a good actor you need to be a good human being’” Janhvi has never shied away from admitting that her mother did not want her to join the film industry. While Sridevi had no qualms about her younger daughter Khushi joining the movie business, she reportedly wanted Janhvi to become a doctor. This had little to do with Janhvi’s talent but the protective mother that she was, Sridevi felt her naive daughter might find it hard to thrive in an industry that required one to have a thick skin.

Jahnvi is close to her siblings, Arjun Kapoor, Anshula Kapoor and Kushi Kapoor. They often get together and spend quality family time.

Before his marriage with Sri­ devi, Boney Kapoor was married to Mona Kapoor with whom he has two children, actor Arjun Kapoor and entrepreneur Anshula Kapoor. For the longest time, the step-siblings maintained a healthy distance from each other.

However, after Sridevi’s death, Arjun and Anshula became the pillars of strength to their father, along with Janhvi and Khushi.

“I don’t smile all the time. Trust me, there have been days when I have been a mess” Speaking about how each of them put in extra efforts to strengthen this new connection, Janhvi had said that initially, they would meet once in few months but now, the process is more organic and they make plans for family dinners more often. She has also often spoken about how she instantly felt secure with ‘Arjun bhaiya’ and ‘Anshula didi’ like she addresses them. While it was a delight for fans to catch glimpses of the Kapoors finally coming together as a family, seeing the four siblings together is still an endearing sight to behold.

Janhvi made her big bang Bollywood debut in director Shashank Khaitan’s Dhadak.

The film, which was a remake of the critically acclaimed Marathi masterpiece Sairat, was a commercial success. Janhvi’s portrayal of the bold character Parthavi, was lauded by both critics and the audience and with no doubt, a star was born.

One to take up good scripts, Janhvi was in no rush to sign her second film after Dhadak. Her

“I’m so proud of my parents. And I need to make them as proud of me”

Always on the move: the young actress leads a busy lifestyle with fun and joy. Bringing an impeccable fashion sense to everything she does.

second film Ghost stories was released two years later, and her performance was once again appreciated. However, her most noted performance yet remains that of the titular character in the biographical drama, Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl. At a time when she was only two films old, Janhvi’s stellar on-screen portrayal of Flight Lieutenant Gunjan Saxena, brought her critical acclaim and praises from all corners. She then starred in the horror flick Roohi and currently has two films in her kitty - the much-hyped sequel of Dostana and Good Luck Jerry.

Ishaan Khatter and Jahnvi Kapoor were rumoured to be dating when they co-starred Dhadak. The couple never publicly admitted to dating.

The Dhadak girl is someone who loves her privacy and she has always maintained her silence when it came to talking about her relationships. How­ ever, around the time of her debut film, Janhvi was rumoured to be dating her co-star, Ishaan Khatter. The two were often papped together and were each other’s social media favourites as

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“It’s very flattering that people would want to know about my private life” well. However, rumour mills suggest that the relationship did not last long and the two reportedly parted ways amicably.

Janhvi’s idea of a dream wedding is sure to melt your heart.

In a recent interview with a fashion brand, Janhvi revealed that she intends to have a ‘simple and basic’ wedding. However, the actor’s idea of a bachelorette is sassy and she said that it will be ‘in Capri, on a yacht’. l