Shahid Kapoor admitted to being hesitant about Ishaan Khatter working as an Assistant Director on the film Udta Punjab. He expressed concerns about having his brother involved in such an intense project.
Recently on Neha Dhupia’s talk show, Shahid said, “I didn’t want him to be on Udta Punjab. I was playing a cocaine addict. I don’t even know what it is like to have a drink so this was the most challenging film that I was doing and I don’t know if I’ll get the character right. And I don’t want the baggage of having my brother because when your younger brother is an AD, you know your one eye is there. Theek hai kya, khaana kha raha hai? You don’t want to show him that you’re there.”
When she inquired about the possibility of biases due to Ishaan being the brother of the film’s leading man, Shahid stated that there were no biases on the film sets. He emphasised that he wouldn’t want his elder brother or father to make him feel like he needed special treatment to be included in the team. Shahid expressed that it would be the worst thing for anyone because then the entire team would view you as being favoured due to your relationship. He stressed the importance of being included and treated equally within the team.
Sharing an anecdote from the sets of Udta Punjab, Shahid revealed that Ishaan was diagnosed with typhoid, “He wanted to drink water from a handpump. I told him, ‘Ishaan, we are big city kids, I don’t think our systems are used to having handpump water.’ He said, ‘Arre bhai, kuch nahi hota,’ He went and had the handpump water and two days later, he fell so ill.”
Udta Punjab was released in 2016. The film was directed by Abhishek Chaubey. Shahid Kapoor played the role of a drug-addict rockstar. The film also starred Alia Bhatt, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Diljit Dosanjh.
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