Vaani Kapoor: ‘Maybe I'm Not the Prettiest Girl, but I Can Work Hard'

- Sandipan Dalal

She was the actor who came out of nowhere to bag a Yash Raj Films (YRF) movie. She was launched in 2013’s Shuddh Desi Romance, which earned her a string of best debutante awards, but Vaani Kapoor disappeared soon after, resurfacing only for Aaha Kalyanam, the Tamil remake of another YRF hit film, Band Baaja Baaraat. Fast forward to 2017. Thanks to her last release, Aditya Chopra’s Befikre, Kapoor is one of the most exciting leading ladies in the industry today.

“You never get to choose your first film, but I did want to take my time choosing the second one. I’m happy I waited,” says 28-year-old Kapoor. The wait wasn’t easy; it meant cutting down on her expenses and living in a rented 1BHK apartment in Mumbai, after having grown up in a sprawling farmhouse in Delhi. Taking stock of her Bollywood journey so far, she discusses the highs and lows, and what her future may look like.

What’s your earliest memory of YRF studios?

I visited YRF studios for the first time in 2011, when their casting director Shanoo (Sharma) asked me to borrow clothes for an audition from one of their costume trunks (costumes from each YRF film are preserved in these trunks). I remember seeing (the late) Yashji (Chopra) from a distance. He had such a warm smile. Later, Shanoo told me that he asked about me and said I could be a Yash Raj heroine.

How difficult was the process of landing your debut film Shuddh Desi Romance and that coveted three-film deal with YRF?

I did a lot of auditions before landing both my films. Interestingly, YRF studios is the only place where I have auditioned. Maneesh (Sharma, the director of