Shahid Kapoor says he 'fought' to wear glasses in Jab We Met, was asked ‘Are you mad?'

Shahid Kapoor recently opened up about his initial struggles in the film industry. The actor has spoken about the 2007 film Jab We Met. In an interview with Film Companion, he shared an interesting anecdote from his film.

2 things you need to know

• Jab We Met was directed by Imtiaz Ali.
• The film starred Kareena Kapoor in the lead role. 

'I fought with everybody'

Shahid Kapoor spoke about his determination to wear glasses for his character, Aditya Kashyap, despite initial reluctance from the film's makers. He said that Aditya's character was initially depicted as someone in a dark and troubled state, contemplating suicide on a train journey. Shahid stated that he argued that wearing glasses would add depth to the character.

(A still of Shahid Kapoor from Jab We Met | Image: Instagram)

The actor spoke about the resistance he faced due to the prevailing perception that heroes in Bollywood don't wear glasses. He had to convince the filmmakers that the glasses were essential for portraying the character's emotional journey accurately. Shahid said that he even promised to remove the glasses when the character needed to sing. 

"I fought with everybody. I was like, ‘I want to wear glasses for this,’ and everybody’s like, ‘Are you mad?’ Hero glasses thodi pehenta hai? Tu gaana kaise gayega?," he said.

Shahid Kapoor on facing industry prejudices

Shahid Kapoor also opened up about a time when he struggled to find roles despite the success of his debut film. He shared that the industry's prevailing mindset led to a lack of opportunities, with casting directors favouring older and more established actors. He shared how the directors used to often tell him that they didn't write roles for actors with his appearance.

"Even after my first film became a hit, nobody was casting me because they looked at me and they said, ‘We don’t write for guys who look like you. We write for guys who have, you know, like eight years older, who are men. We don’t write for boys,” he said. 

He said that he persisted in his quest for authenticity in his roles. He believed that making such choices would help him break free from being typecast in similar roles. He cited Kaminey as a prime example of a complete transition from his earlier boyish image.