Shahid Kapoor: I was destroyed when the kissing picture was published, I was only 24 | Exclusive

Shahid Kapoor

Back in 2004, when paparazzi culture and tabloids were gaining popularity, Shahid Kapoor found himself in the middle of a major controversy. A picture of the actor and his then-girlfriend sharing a kiss at a Mumbai nightclub called Rain had gotten published in Mid-day. The photo created a storm in tinsel town.

Talking about how he felt after the incident, during our print and podcast series Sit With Hitlist, the actor said, "I was destroyed at that time. I was just a 24-year-old kid and I felt my privacy had been invaded and I could do nothing to protect it. I was a mess, I was like, yeh kya ho gaya and what is going on and of course it affects you a lot. At that age especially, because you don't even know exactly your own feelings and then you are figuring out, how to be with a girl and you are dating you know all that is going on and you are actors in different places and all that is happening and in the middle this happens..."

With social media and the paparazzi culture of today, Shahid says actors are more prepared about such incidents now. "I think know you are aware that it is 100% going to happen. At that time, we were caught off guard by it... So, it is like a informed devil as opposed to an uninformed devil scenario. You at least know, yeh toh hone wala hai. Also ab toh meri shaadi ho gayi hai, bachche ho gaye hain. Nobody is interested in those things about me. They have other 24-year-olds to focus on," he told Mid-day's Mayank Shekhar.

Talking about the 24-year-olds of today that he thinks show great promise, Shahid said, "My brother Ishaan. He has a lot of promise." Others? "A lot of them I think. A lot of kids are really good. Acting wise my brother is better than most of the kids in his age category. Of course, there is a long way for him to go. Amongst the girls, all of them are good, Janhvi, Sara, Ananya, Rashmika all of them are very good. I think all the girls are good."

Watch the full interview on Mid-day's YouTube channel.