When brother Ishaan Khatter made injured Shahid Kapoor do a one-hour workout!

Shahid Kapoor with brother Ishaan Khatter

After repeatedly and politely answering questions related to his upcoming film 'Padmavati', which got entangled in a political storm, Shahid Kapoor's personality and face lit up, when mid-day asked him about his younger sibling, Ishaan Khatter, who is all set to taste the world of mainstream Hindi film industry.

Shahid Kapoor with brother Ishaan Khatter. Pic/Pradeep Dhivar.

Ishaan is one film old and his second Karan Johar film, Dhadak's poster has been well- appreciated, what is the fit to fight survival instinct you will give him because you have been in the industry for almost 15 years now? Shahid quips, "My brother is a monkey. He's been fit since the age of 13 and has a lean body and curly hair. I still remember two years ago, I'd suffered from some injury and I was recovering. In my mind I thought I have to take everything slow and suddenly he (Ishaan) comes to me and says, 'Bro, what are you doing? Come with me.' He actually took me to the garden; he hung with his rattled legs around a coconut tree and started doing reverse crunches and made me do a one-hour workout. So, he's totally fit to fight. He has all this in his genes and blood. I wish I had an elder brother, who at 13 had pushed me to do this."

Talking about how he's conceiving 'Dhadak', Shahid said that he's really waiting for the film and keeps joking with him saying, "Show me what you have done, so I can also learn something from you, apparently you're a mind-blowing actor. So, let's see what I can pick up from you."

Survival is one aspect but what advice have you given him to maintain his stance in the industry, "It's all about balance. Success is something which is easy to come by. A true star, a true professional is somebody who knows how to keep it and knows how to max it. That's actually where you burn and sweat. It's about holding on and keeping it there. It's not about just being something and showing it now. So, that's what the journey in this fraternity is. It's not about being a flavour of the season. It's about battling it through every possible down, which still comes. I don't think there's any star, who hasn't gone through a band bash. You truly become who you are and your metal is fully tested when you come through fit there. I have seen that and I feel that is a true mark in an actor," said an evolved Shahid.

Ask him if he's watched Ishaan's debut film, Majid Majidi's 'Beyond the Clouds' and he jokes, "I'm pleading him to show the film. I'm hoping to see it sometime this month. It's not up to him either; it's up to Majid Majidi. They didn't really have private screenings."

Since the event I interviewed him was about felicitating the unsung 'women' heroes, we asked the 'Haider' actor about his heroes, "It's all about empowering women, I have been born and brought up largely by my mother, Neelima Azeem. She was a single parent for a while. I have never really questioned the power of a woman. In fact, a lot of who I am is defined by them. Today, I'm married to Mira and have a daughter Misha, I'm surrounded by women and I am genuinely empowered by them. It is their love, support, strength, their character and everything that we've shared together is everything that I am. So, I can naturally understand the concept of Fit to Fight. Having been raised by single mother, I have travelled with her, see her perform, she was a classical 'kathak' (a dance form) dancer, shifted from Delhi to Bombay with her. Lived many years in a rented house, seen her go to work almost throughout my childhood and earn for the family. I think woman are Mohammed Ali. For a long time, their hands were tied, now it's opened," concluded the 36-year old, who has started shooting for his next film about electricity theft, titled, 'Batti Gul Meter Chalu'.

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