THE STAGE IS SET...LEGACY EDITION

For most, theatre is just a stepping stone before getting into the movies. But not for these young actors. Although equally good in front of the movie camera, their souls are tied to the stage. Theatre runs in their blood. These three young actors, born into theatre royalty, are carrying forward their families' legacies while adding their unique voices to it. Meet Vivaan Shah, Zahan Kapoor, and Aditya Rawal.

- BY ANANYA GHOSH

"Don't get me wrong, I love the glamour and glitz. But I don't want to be superficially glamourous"

Zahan Kapoor

Age: 32

Actor, Trustee at Prithvi Theatre

He had made an impressive movie debut playing the titular role in Hansal Mehta's 2022 film Faraaz. And now with Vikramaditya Motwane's prison drama series, Black Warrant, released on Netflix on January 10, all eyes are back on this Kapoor boy. The glimpses of the young actor's portrayal of a rookie jailer trying to survive in an unforgiving world of 'India's most unforgiving jail' has already made him a talking point with netizens comparing him to his legendary grandfather. But Zahan Kapoor, the son of actor, filmmaker, and trustee of the iconic Prithvi Theatre, Kunal Kapoor and well-known photographer Sheena Sippy, and grandson of the legendary Shashi Kapoor and Jennifer Kendal Kapoor, is no one-trick pony. Adeptly carrying forward his family's twin legacy of theatre and cinema, apart from being a professional actor, an occasional artist, and an aspiring filmmaker, he is today also one of the backbones of Prithvi Theatre-one of Mumbai's most influential cultural landmarks credited for cultivating and nurturing its thriving theatre scene since 1978.

"For the audience, the legacy can be the films and the impact, but from a personal perspective the legacy is not that. The legacy is not the fame or the celebrity' but the passion, the love, the service, the seva bhaav, and the complete surrender to the art form"

As we sit at one of the hallowed greenrooms of the theatre, established by his late grandparents and presently run by his dad, Zahan is every bit the man at the helm. "With each passing year, as I am learning more about the history and the deep core values of the institution, I am finding myself getting more involved."