Janhvi Kapoor on sensational headlines about her: ‘There was a phase when I felt cheated…’

Janhvi Kapoor says there was a phase in her career where she felt “cheated”, when “what appeared to be an honest interaction, became an opportunic way for someone to make a headline.” The young star, with every passing day has been tackling questions about her late mother Sridevi, about nepotism, and her bold fashion sense.
In this interview, with , the 25-year-old actor talks about how she doesn’t “get disappointed in people anymore, understanding that everyone is doing their job”. She says she wants to “come across as a truthful person”, knowing that she’s going to be “criticised either way” for anything she says or does.

On being asked how she copes with the fact that anything she says or does turns out to be sensational headlines, the actor says, “It never gets old. I’m always baffled at some of the headlines that come out. I’m baffled at how what seems like an honest interaction becomes an opportunic way for someone to make a headline or make you look a certain way. More often than not, you’re made to look bad because that’s what gets the headlines. But I’ve learnt to not be disappointed in people anymore. There was a phase where I’d feel cheated what feels like a normal interactions. However, everyone is trying to do their job and unfortunately people have been rewarded in this profession for far too long for being negative and putting out negative headlines, so they think that’s what sells. That’s just the world we’re in now.”
Does it affect her, take a toll on her? She plainly says, “It used to, but now (it doesn’t)…”

“People are going to criticise you no matter what. I think that if there is anything I can do to control any of this, it is trying to be as candid as possible and try to take ownership of who I am as a person, as much as possible. So, if I’m going to be criticised either way, I may just be criticised for saying something that is the truth because then at least I’ll have that much to hold on to,” Janhvi adds.

Moving away from her media image to the work she’s been doing, Janhvi seems to be curating her projects in a way that she is at the heart of the story, in Mili now and Good Luck Jerry earlier. What is her thought process in choosing the roles? “I’m just, I think, getting lucky a little bit and also gravitating towards roles that feel challenging to me as an actor.”
A young actor who’s been “gravitating” to challenging roles, does she not miss doing frivolous stuff? She says, “I don’t think anyone wants to do frivolous stuff, but I’d love to do more mainstream stuff, if that’s what you mean. I’d love to do that for myself. Right now, with the phase that I’ve had in the last two years, where I had naturally gravitated to emotionally challenging roles, and I guess, also physically taxing as well. And it is just because I wanted to do something different from what everyone else was doing and that’s what peaked my interest.”
The last two films that Janhvi has been a part of — Good Luck Jerry and now Mili — are remakes of hit south Indian films. Despite recent remakes not working at the box office, Janhvi’s father and Mili’s producer Boney Kapoor recently contested that era of south remakes is far from over. Mili is the remake of Malayalam hit, Helen.

Reacting to her father’s statement and telling us why she doesn’t mind being a part of remakes, she says, “That was a very bold statement (laughs). I’m a firm believer that there are only a handful of stories to tell. What matters is how you tell them, and with what intention you tell them. Even if it is a remake, and not an original, you can still tell it with truth and honesty. If the film is being remade with the agenda of it being profitable because it has worked out as a project before then you’ve already lost. But if you’re making it with an intention of making it a new experience for the audiences then you have a chance of winning people over even if it is not an original subject.”
With every film Janhvi is trying to push the envelope, and prove that she’s an actor who’s getting work on her merit and not just because she had her foot in the door as Sridevi and Boney Kapoor’s daughter. Preparing for Mili was tough for Janhvi, and she shares how the month-long film shoot affected her physical and mental health. In the survival drama, she plays a girl who gets trapped inside a storage freezer for hours.

Explaining why she’s picking physically difficult parts to play on screen, Janhvi says, “It is just my will to push the envelope. I don’t believe that acting as an art form should be easy or comfortable, you have to bare your soul. I believe so much in the idea of giving my audience the experience that moves them, and I think in the order to, I do need to push myself beyond my limits. I’m willing to do anything for my art.”
With all that shes doing to promote the film, Janhvi is aware that her first theatrical release after the Covid-19 pandemic might see a turbulent time. On being asked if she’s nervous that she has to tackle box-office once again, she says, “Yes, and it feels new because I haven’t faced it in a while. When Roohi released, we were operating at a 50% occupancy, so those margins we’ve got these numbers that many film with 100% occupancy, right now, aren’t being able to do. So whatever it is, it is great. It is a new feeling, haven’t slept very well in very long, but fingers crossed.
Is it like Dhadak? She says, “No, I think I was always very confident that, in terms of commercials, Dhadak would do well, and it did. It was one of the highest grossing film for any newcomer. And for some reason, I always had that clarity that it would do well commercially. But I think there is a certain amount of uncertainty with the climate right now that makes me nervous.”