Harsh Varrdhan says being ‘Anil Kapoor’s son' altered perception of Mirzya: 'Was never supposed to be a mainstream film'

Actor Harsh Varrdhan Kapoor has said that being Anil Kapoor's son altered the audience's perception about his debut film, Mirzya.

Actor Harsh Varrdhan Kapoor, who made his debut with Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's Mirzya, has said nobody should have expected the film to become a big box office hit, because it was an ‘art-house’ movie. However, it was given the added pressure of being a commercial hit because of the names attached to it.

Harsh Varrdhan Kapoor poses with sister Sonam Kapoor and father Anil Kapoor.

Harsh said in an interview that the perception around the film changed ‘since Anil Kapoor’s son was making his debut and Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra was directing it, people expected it to set the box office on fire.’

Analysing his career, he told a leading daily, “Mirzya was an abstract musical. In the end, it was not a conventional film, so it cannot or is unlikely to get conventional results. I think it is my responsibility as a young actor to try different things. I am not here to repackage and rehash ideas. I don’t want to be a typical Bollywood hero. I will not pick up films only to move ahead. If I do a mainstream film, it will be by accident and not by choice. I am trying to chase excellence. If I do a film that ends up reaching a larger audience, I will be very happy. I would have done it organically then, instead of following a strategic master plan of becoming a star.”

He continued, “The viewers, who are intelligent to understand my choices, loved me and my work. I am on a bit of a different journey and I don’t expect mainstream media to understand this. People are obsessed with the box office performance of a film, and it puts out a wrong message. This trend basically makes it harder for me to make the choices that I make. I find it a bit hypocritical and contradictory as there are people who say, ‘All you actors are doing the same films’, and then you have someone doing something different and all you can talk about is the box office numbers! I don’t get that.”

After Mirzya and Bhavesh Joshi Superhero, Harsh Varrdhan appeared in another Vikramaditya Motwane film, the Netflix mockumentary AK vs AK. He followed it up with Spotlight, directed by Vasan Bala, as a part of the Netflix anthology series Ray. He will also be seen in the biopic of shooter Abhinav Bindra, with Anil.