Shahid Kapoor talks about the chocolate boy image he hopes to shed with Kaminey’s release

IF change is fast becoming a constant in Bollywood, rewriting first impressions is what most actors hope to do. Especially when a cliché sets in. But a reinvention in the early years of one’s career is a hard gamble, one that Shahid Kapoor is willing to play.

With Vishal Bhardwaj’s Kaminey, he’s only too eager to shake off his chocolate-boy tag, an attempt he began with his grimacing act in 2007’s Jab We Met. The August release will have Kapoor play a local goon in a double role. “My image doesn’t bother me so much but Kaminey is indeed hugely different from what I’ve done before. And I am hoping that it will make people see me differently,” he says, as he gears up for a photo shoot.

Kapoor entered the industry at a very young and gawky 17 where he was a part of the musical troupe in Taal. That, of course, is passé and today, he does have a respectable women following, a must for actors of his genre.

Yet the actor admits he misses his lost candour.

“Those times were different. I miss the innocence of being here without knowing exactly what I was doing,” he laughs his killer dimpled laugh, adding, “Honestly, I don’t like the way I look now.” Surprisingly, despite the credentials that he enjoys today, the actor’s critical of himself.

“I don’t often watch my work, but when I do, it’s with objectivity. I usually find myself saying, ‘Oh god! What did I do and why did I do that!’ But then I’m really glad that I started young and received such acceptance this early in my career.”

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