Arjun Kapoor's debut film turns eight, actor reminisces journey

As Arjun Kapoor starrer Ishaqzaade clocked eight years of its release, the actor took a trip down the memory lane, reminiscing the journey of his not-so-traditional debut film. He also took to Instagram to share memorabilia.

Mumbai: Ishaqzaade, Habib Faisal's fascinating re-telling of the standard Romeo-Juliet lore with a wild spin, narrated the tumultuous love story of two rebellious small-town youngsters. The film, which opened on May 11 in 2012, marked Arjun Kapoor's debut and also shot Parineeti Chopra into prominence with her first solo heroine role.

Looking back at his debut release, Arjun said that doing the film gave him "self-belief" and given the right opportunities, he could continue being a mainstream commercial hero.

Taking to Instagram, the actor also shared memorabilia and penned a heartfelt thank you note.

Reminiscing the journey, Arjun said: "On the first day of shooting, I told myself this can be the first day for the rest of my life if I get this right. And that's what I just tried to do - work my hardest and take each day as it came and just deliver what Habib Sir wanted. When you are making a film you kind of become numb to the result, you just want to work hard every day and do your best in front of the camera."

"But when I finished the film and when I finally saw it, it kind of hit me that I had the ability to hold my own in front of a camera," said the actor.

He added: "This feeling did give me the self-belief that given the right opportunities, I would be able to continue being a mainstream commercial hero. At that point of time, self-belief was one thing that mattered the most for me and that's what I got out of Ishaqzaade."

He pointed out the film was not a traditional debut for a newcomer in Bollywood: "If you ask me, Ishaqzaade was not a traditional debut. It was unconventional and that's what worked. He was a guy who was real and believable because Parma Chauhan (Arjun's character in the film) exists in society. There are men like him even today who do not know how to behave themselves and who believe they are above the system and the law till life happens to them, till reality hits them."

"He's a man who may not be somebody who can redeem himself but he still tries his best to get by life, tries to do the right thing by doing right by Zoya, who he eventually falls in love with," concluded Arjun.

With inputs from IANS.