HT City Vibe of 25: Celebrating with Delhi duo, Shahid Kapoor and Kriti Sanon helobaba.com
Bringing their own Punjabi energy to the Capital, actors Shahid Kapoor and Kriti Sanon arrived at the HT Delhi office to the beats of dhol. As HT City kick-started its 25th birthday celebrations with this starry edition of Stars In The City, 25 lucky contest winners got to meet the actors, who joined us in our silver jubilee celebrations.
Having lived in Delhi at some point in their lives, the stars sat down for an insightful interaction with Sonal Kalra, Chief Managing Editor (Entertainment and Lifestyle), Hindustan Times, and the actors — at their candid best — spoke about their love for Delhi, visiting HT office as a ritual, and also spilled beans about their upcoming film Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya (TBMAUJ).
Mention that HT City turns 25 in April and we have started celebrations early on, Kapoor laughed, “This is like a true Punjabi family and happens only in Delhi. Main Saket main raha hu for the longest time, Delhi is home. Ab toh sasural bhi yahan hai.” Sanon quipped, “I miss this vibe, mera birthday vahan (Mumbai) ek hi din manaaya jaata hai.”
Besides meeting and interacting with all the winners, Kapoor had a heartwarming moment when he saw and met one of his biggest fans, Yash Juneja (aka Shanatics), who has waited for 15 years to get a chance to meet the actor. “I was standing outside your apartment for a whole day in 2009, but you were not home,” shared Yash, and upon hearing this, Shahid couldn’t stop and just came down to give him a tight hug. Responding to Yash’s question that why didn’t he hide his father, veteran actor Pankaj Kapur’s name during auditions, Kapoor said, “I’ve stayed with my mum more, I spent time with my dad more after growing up. He always used to say, ‘Naam se nahin, kaam se roshan karna hai’. So, main chahta tha ki log mujhe meri kaabiliyat ke basis par kaam dein.”
Another winner, Anmol Kapoor’s dedication to meet Sanon was visible when he shared that he brought his wife straight from the hospital as she wasn’t doing well so they could meet the actors. Stating that he manifested this meeting with Kriti, the fan asked since she believes in the law of attraction, what has been the biggest thing she has manifested so far, and Kriti didn’t think for a moment before mentioning her National Award for Mimi. “Manifestation works differently for different people. I don’t chase anything, I believe it’s going to happen and then I forget about it and keep working. I have a diary where I write my dreams and this was one of them,” she added.
As talks steered toward their film TBMAUJ, which is about a robotics engineer falling in love with an AI (Artificial Intelligence) female robot, the actors got all excited and asserted that a unique film like this is sure to strike a chord with the audiences.
“When I was hearing the script, I was entertained and laughed a lot,” Kriti replied when asked about what made her say a yes to this film. She further said, “I love ‘love stories’ and I think love stories banna kam ho gaya hai, thoda superficial ho gaya hai maamla. I felt in love with the quirk of a human being falling in love with a robot. You can watch it with anyone and have a good time.”
Kapoor, too, shared that for him to give a nod to any film, he looks for the entertainment quotient and the fact that he is able to connect with it. “TBMAUJ is fresh and a leap of faith, for sure. The story was believable, interesting and entertaining for me,” he said.
Given their cool and quirky camaraderie, and the whole vibe in the room, Sonal couldn’t resist asking if this bloomed on the sets or if they were friends before. “He was really sweet to be there in my takes to understand the AI thing more and that even made us understand each other’s ways in a better way. In fact, we used to give feedbacks to each other on the takes. I am glad it wasn’t something serious like Haider but such a fun one to be our first film together,” smiled Sanon.
Celebrating the vibe of 25 with HT City
“Anytime I come to promote my films in Delhi, it is like a ritual to come to here. HT office aake maatha tekte hain, toh beginning hoti hai promotions ki. And, whenever I come, I make sure to have New Friends Colony ke shawarma, it’s my favourite,” says Sanon. Kapoor chimes in and adds, “Congratulations to HT City on turning 25! Throughout my career I have been coming to this office, it feels nostalgic to be in this room, and that too coming here on such an auspicious occasion in a milestone year. It is amazing to be here.”
