‘Love is complicated’: Shahid Kapoor on Cocktail 2, modern romance and why box-office hit isn’t in an actor’s control

If there's one thing Shahid Kapoor isn't pretending to have figured out, it's love.

The actor, who is stepping into the world of Cocktail 2, believes every generation thinks its romantic complications are unique. Spoiler alert: they're not.

"The confusion, the complexity of love just keeps changing shape," Kapoor tells Gulf News' Manjusha Radhakrishnan in an exclusive interview. "But I think every generation struggles with love in their own way."

It's perhaps why the Cocktail universe continues to resonate. Fourteen years after the original film starring Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone and Diana Penty became a pop-culture staple, the franchise is returning with an entirely new story, new characters and a fresh perspective on relationships.

Before fans start expecting a continuation of the original, Kapoor is quick to clarify.

"The story is new, the characters are new," he says.

"The filmmaker is the same, so you will see a lot of the music, the energy, the costumes, the attitude, the energy and mindset of the characters."

What remains unchanged is the emotional DNA that made the original so memorable. Kapoor points out that the project carries special significance for producer Dinesh Vijan.

"Cocktail was the first film that he produced, which was his, you know, so it's very close to his heart," says Kapoor.

"Maybe that's why it took them 14 years to make another one."

While the original was penned by Imtiaz Ali, this chapter comes from a different creative voice. Kapoor believes that distinction will help the film carve out its own identity.

"This one by Luv Ranjan will have its own personality," he says.

Modern relationships may be more complicated than ever, but Kapoor isn't convinced today's generation has it any harder than the ones before it.

"Sometimes in a manner where you feel like it's too easy, sometimes in a manner where it feels too intrusive, sometimes in a manner where you feel like commitment is a problem, sometimes in a manner where you feel like you just can't find it," he says. "So, you know, the challenge of love continues."

For Kapoor, the emotional core of the film lies in its relatability.

"I think this film is relatable for people in their 40s, for people in their 20s, for people in their 30s, even for people in their teens, late teens maybe," he says.

Interestingly, he found himself understanding his character Kunal with surprising ease.

"The guy is probably the nicest guy you will meet and love and like," Kapoor says. "I think Kunal will be somebody who exists in every group."

As someone now in his 40s playing a younger character, Kapoor found himself reflecting on how perspectives on love evolve with age.

"When I was young, I used to get very irritated when older people used to tell me their take on love," he says with a laugh. "Today, I'm older, I'm in my 40s now."

But one thing, he believes, never changes.

"Nobody truly has understood it completely till it happens to you, and you spend most of your life trying to understand what's the best way to approach it," he says. "Love will always do that to every generation."

One of the reasons Maddock Films projects often strike a chord is that they rarely judge their characters. Nobody is entirely right. Nobody is entirely wrong. Everyone exists somewhere in the messy middle.

Kapoor agrees.

"For me, acting has never been about judging a character," he says. "It has been about being able to portray a character where he is understood."

That doesn't mean characters can behave randomly.

"There should be a logic to the character," he explains. "If you can understand why a character is behaving why he's behaving."

It's a philosophy that extends to the set as well.

Judging by the trailer and songs, the cast appears to be having an absolute blast. Kapoor credits much of that atmosphere to director Homi Adajania.

"It's not that easy dealing with three established actors," he says.

Yet Adajania managed the dynamic effortlessly.

"With great ease, he was able to have control and friendship with all three of us in his own way," Kapoor says.

The result was a collaborative environment where nobody was competing for the spotlight.

"I never felt like anybody was batting for themselves alone," he says. "Everybody was batting for the film, and I think that's always the best energy to have on a set."

That team-first approach is something Kapoor values deeply, particularly in an industry increasingly obsessed with opening-weekend numbers and instant verdicts.

Ask him whether actors spend time manifesting box-office success and he responds with refreshing candour.

"You can sit there rooting for whatever the hell you want," he says.

Instead, Kapoor believes actors should focus on what they can actually control.

"You can only take responsibility for your energy, you know, how you turn up every day, for your discipline, for your professionalism, and for your goodness."

Everything else, he argues, is out of their hands.

"A film is like a puzzle with 3,000 pieces and each of those pieces gets laid out one minute at a time, one hour at a time, one day at a time," he says.

The lesson, according to Kapoor, is one that success and failure eventually teach every actor.

"When actors think that they have a lot of control, that's when they get hit by success and failure," he says.

Ultimately, his outlook on the fate of a film is surprisingly simple.

"When a film has to do well, it just does well, and if it doesn't, it just doesn't," Kapoor says. "That's the truth of it."

And perhaps that's the most Shahid Kapoor answer of all: thoughtful, grounded and refreshingly free of Bollywood delusions.

As for Cocktail 2? The anticipation is already bubbling. Whether audiences arrive for the romance, the drama or simply to see what all the fuss is about, Kapoor seems content to let the film speak for itself.