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Shanaya Kapoor says she is ‘proud of Aankhon Ki Gustaakhiyan’ irrespective of its box office performance
As the year of her debut with Aankhon Ki Gustaakhiyan draws to a close, actor Shanaya Kapoor talks about the love it got her irrespective of its box office
Shanaya Kapoor might come from the mighty Kapoor lineage, but that didn't actually give her an easy start in the Hindi film business. The actor has had multiple films announced and then shleved eventually, including Bedhadak and Vrushabha. This year, she finally made her debut with Aankhon Ki Gustaakhiyan opposite Vikrant Massey. However, the film underperformed at the box office, not giving her the start she was hoping for. But Shanaya Kapoor is unperturbed as the love and appreciation she got for her work made up for more than just the box office.
“Of course, what happens commercially does hurt you a little. You want people to go watch your work in the theatres. But the love I got was so much. It was everything I was waiting for and when the moment came that my movie was out there, for me that was everything,” she says.
The actor reveals that she was getting condolence messages from people, but she wasn’t looking at the negatives, but the positive aspects out of it. “While I was getting messages like ‘It’s okay’, ‘things will get well’, there was this kid in me that was just beaming with joy that my film is out now. Whatever the fate of this film has been, I was giving my all and I've done it, it's so much and honestly, I'm so proud of it,” she says.
Shanaya adds that she has no qualms about having started her journey with this film, and considers it a badge of honour. “My Insta bio still says, ‘Aankhon Ki Gustaakhiyan out on ZEE5’. I am very proud of that film. I want everyone to see that. Maybe it can be seen as a way of putting it out there in people's faces that this film didn’t do well, but for me, it's a proud movie made with love. It was a memorable moment when the film released as I took a deep breath, and finally, I exhaled when that Friday came and my film was out there. There was so much tension in me for almost five years before that.”
Up next, the actor has Tu Yaa Main in the pipeline which releases on Valentine's Day weekend in 2026. She also has a yet-untitled romcom with Abhay Verma in her kitty.
