Tusshar Kapoor: People who come from the outside get a lot of credit, which I think is not fair

Actor Tusshar Kapoor, who turned 46 recently, opens up about living under the shadow of his father Jeetendra’s lineage, and the hurdles that come with it

Tusshar Kapoor will soon be back on the big screen after a gap of five years, and the actor admits that a lot of things have “changed for good during this break. However, the one thing he’s unable to understand is the reason behind outsiders getting extra credit in the industry while those with [film] lineage, he feels, are sometimes pulled down for unfair reasons.

Tusshar Kapoor turned 46 on November 20

“I tried not to take that pressure from the very beginning, but then I’ve realised that it has been hard for people from within the industry as much as it is hard for people outside the industry, because we come with our baggage,” says Kapoor, son of veteran actor Jeetendra.

The actor, who turned 46 on November 20, continues, “No matter how much we do, there is always going to be a concerted effort to pull us down… ‘okay, the glass is half empty’. No matter how much you do, there will always be people who will try to make it look as if the glass is half empty, and we haven’t done enough.”

Kapoor, who made his debut in 2001 with Mujhe Kucch Kehna Hai, opines that people who come from outside of the showbiz, get a lot of credit “no matter how much they do”. He elaborates, “That is not fair because success and achievement is equally hard for anybody. There are no free lunches for people who are from inside the industry except for the first film. One has to respect what anybody is doing.”

After spending two decades in the industry, he has learnt to not take it to his heart, as he says, “There are hurdles being a part of a film family and being born to a superstar, but I don’t take it to heart.”

Asked how he plans to protect his son, Laksshya, from this price of fame, Kapoor feels it’s still too early to think about it.

“He has to decide what he wants. I have had lots of conversations with him, and explained it to him about the nature of the profession that I am in. It is never going to be something that he is going to be confused or pressured. I’ll try to do my best to do that. We can’t really protect our children beyond the point. They have to deal with their own issues, and own struggles. Thodha hum unko samjhenge aur thodha woh khudh seek jayenge,” he says.