Harsh Varrdhan Kapoor

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Harsh Varrdhan Kapoor
Harshvardhan Kapoor grace ‘Mirzya’ screening.jpg
Harsh Varrdhan Kapoor in 2016
Born (1990-11-09) 9 November 1990 (age 33)
Occupation
  • Actor
  • film producer
Years active2015-present
Parent(s)
Relatives
FamilySurinder Kapoor family

Harsh Varrdhan Kapoor (/hɑːrshvɑːrdhɑːn/ born 9 November 1990) is an Indian actor and film producer.[1] He is the son of actor Anil Kapoor.[2]

Early life[edit]

Harsh was born in Mumbai on 9 November 1990, the only son of actor Anil Kapoor and Sunita Kapoor.[3] The youngest of three children, he is the brother of actress Sonam Kapoor and producer Rhea Kapoor.[4] He did his early schooling at Arya Vidya Mandir in Juhu and A levels at Podar International.[5] Kapoor pursued screenwriting at Chapman University in Orange County Southern California. While at Chapman, Harsh trained under Oscar-winning screenwriter David Ward who is known for films like Sting and Sleepless in Seattle.[6][7]

Harsh has often said in interviews that from a very young age, he was fortunate enough to have been exposed to various genres of cinema from all over the world. This exposure to different forms and aesthetics has been instrumental in shaping his choices and sensibilities in his own film career.[8]

Career[edit]

Before his acting debut, Kapoor worked as an assistant director on Anurag Kashyap's 2015 film Bombay Velvet.[9][10]

Harsh Varrdhan made his acting debut when Rakesh Omprakash Mehra's, the maker of Rang De Basanti and Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, approached him for an art house romantic musical called Mirzya. Written by the Oscar winning Gulzar, Mirzya used poetry and a Greek chorus as narrative guides, a style that was both bold and unconventional.[11] Having signed the film in 2013, Harsh spent over a year preparing for the film.[12] He learned horse riding and archery and worked on the two distinct characters that the film required him to play.[13] Mirzya premiered at the prestigious London film festival in 2016 to positive reviews in the international press with the New York Times praising it but received mixed reviews back home in India and could not perform very well commercially.[14] While reviewing Meena Iyer of Times of India gave the film a 3/5 rating, praised the performance of leads Harsh Varrdhan and Saiyami, and called the film "A broad, brash Bollywood romance, juggling Punjabi folklore with more contemporary Shakespearean allusions in its two-tiered narrative".[15] The Economic Times gave the film 3.5/5 rating and stated, "Impressive performance by Harsh Varrdhan Kapoor & Saiyami Kher, but a one-time watch."[16]

Harsh’s next film was Vikramaditya Motwane’s vigilante drama Bhavesh Joshi Superhero.[17] Financed by Eros, and later Reliance and Phantom Films, the film released to polarizing reviews in June 2018.[18] Movie aficionados praised the film for its realism, strong performances and technical merits but others took issue with its jarring length and predictable plot points. It was only when the movie released on digital platforms that it started to gain momentum with YouTube and the blogosphere blowing up with rave reviews. Over the months and years that have followed, Bhavesh Joshi has amassed a massive cult following with some referring to it as India’s best superhero film ever and campaigning for a sequel.[19][20] In spite receiving positive reviews, the film was a box-office bomb grossing just 4.35 crore on a 21 crore budget.[20][19] Neil Soans of The Times of India praised the central theme of the film and the acting performances with a special mention for Priyanshu Painyuli and gave the film a rating of 3.5 out of 5.[21] Raja Sen of NDTV said that the film has good intentions and is filled with praiseworthy acting performances but the screenplay lacks originality and is not strong enough to make the film an interesting watch.[22] Rajeev Masand of News18 was impressed with the concept of the film, the acting performances and the music by Amit Trivedi but was critical of the poorly written script and gave the film a rating of 2.5 out of 5.[23]

In 2020, he worked with Vikramaditya Motwane again in the Netflix film AK vs AK, in which he played a fictionalized version of himself and shared the screen with his father and sister. Harsh's cameo was praised by critiics.[24] Harsh had reportedly also signed on to play the lead in Sriram Raghavan’s Andhadhun but eventually had to withdraw due to scheduling conflicts.[25]

In 2021, he appeared in one of the episodes of Netflix show Ray.[26] While reviewing Hindustan Times's Rohan Naahar wrote "Manoj Bajpayee, Harsh Varrdhan Kapoor, Ali Fazal and Radhika Madan lead a handful of excellent performers in Netflix's irreverent but inconsistent anthology, based on Satyajit Ray's short stories."[27]

In 2022, he acted in and co-produced a film titled Thar which was released on Netflix on 6 May 2022.[28] The film also starred his father, Fatima Sana Shaikh and Satish Kaushik in key roles.[29] It was directed and co-written by Raj Singh Chaudhary.[30] The dialogues were written by Anurag Kashyap. It received mixed to positive reviews from critics, who praised the direction, cinematography, performances, dialogues, background score, and its homages to the Western genre, though some criticized its predictable story, screenplay, and editing. Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave the film a rating of 3.5/5 stars and wrote "Thar is a surprise of the season and worth watching for its plot, direction, music score and the never before seen locales of Rajasthan".[31] Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave the film a rating of 3/5 stars and wrote "There are hints of Sergio Leone and Cormac McCarthy in this Rajasthan-set mystery starring the actor and his son".[32] Bharathi Pradhan of Lehren gave the film a rating of 3/5 stars and stated "Cruel & Compelling".[33] Renuka Vyavahare of The Times Of India gave the film a rating of 3/5 stars and wrote "Anil Kapoor's film choices are only getting better and bolder with age. Be it Thar or AK vs AK, he's showing the millennials and OTT clan what a certified movie star is made of".[34] Reubyn Coutinho of Netflix Junkie wrote "Shots of the sprawling desert landscape give one that classic western feel that can transport them back in time to the classic westerns or even the spaghetti westerns."[35] Prateek Sur of Outlook India gave the film a rating of 3/5 stars and wrote "While Chaudhary has made a great attempt at bringing forth a dark neo-noir thriller, but in his haste to keep it under two hours, he has just squandered a great plot at hand".[36]He is currently working on the biopic of the olympic gold medalist Abhinav Bindra, in which he will act and is the producer of it.[37][38]

Artistry[edit]

Kapoor followed up his appearance in AK vs AK with filmmaker Vasan Bala’s adaptation of Satyajit Ray’s short story Spotlight in the Netflix anthology series Ray. Ray released to largely positive reviews with Bala’s and Abhishek Chaubey’s films receiving the most praise. Ray later went on to be nominated for Best Film at the Filmfare OTT awards.[26]

With Bhavesh Joshi, AK vs AK and Ray, Harsh soon garnered a reputation for making good film choices.[8] His next film Thar was a collaboration with his father Anil Kapoor. The movie was co-written by Anurag Kashyap, directed by an debutant actor-turned-director Raj Singh Chaudhary and led by Harsh, Thar was India’s first western noir action thriller. Because of the risky format and genre of the movie, he was fighting an uphill battle to get the film financed until Netflix greenlit the film. In order to play a quiet character with many shades of gray, he worked hard on his physicality so that body language could speak louder than words. That released on Netflix in 2022 to rave reviews both domestically and internationally.[39][40][41] An Ormax media survey revealed Thar to be one of the most liked and watched OTT originals of 2022.[42] Notably, Thar marked the debut of Harsh as producer under the AKFC banner.[41]

During the pandemic, Harsh worked closely with acting coaches Jeff Goldberg and Suraj Vyas to hone his craft. He has, on many occasions, spoken candidly about how implicitly he trusts his mentors to guide him on new projects.[43]

Filmography[edit]

Films[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
2015 Bombay Velvet N/A Assistant director
2016 Mirzya Munish/Adil Debut film
2018 Bhavesh Joshi Superhero Siku
2020 AK vs AK Himself
2022 Thar Siddharth Also producer

Television[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
2021 Ray Vikram Arora Episode: "Spotlight"

Awards and nominations[edit]

Award Year Category Nominated work Result Ref.
Big Star Entertainment Awards 2016 Most Entertaining Debut Actor Mirzya Won [44]
Indian Television Academy Awards 2022 Best Actor - Original Film (OTT) Thar Won [45]
Filmfare Awards 2017 Best Male Debut Mirzya Nominated [46]
Filmfare Glamour and Style Awards 2016 Fashion Debut of the Year N/A Won [47]
Filmfare OTT Awards 2022 Best Actor - Web Original Film Thar Nominated [48]
Best Web Original Film Nominated
Screen Awards 2016 Best Male Debut Mirzya Won[lower-alpha 1] [49]
Stardust Award 2016 Best Acting Debut (Male) Mirzya Won [50]
  1. Shared with Jim Sarbh

References[edit]

  1. "Harsh Varrdhan Kapoor receives sweet birthday wishes from sisters Sonam-Rhea and parents Anil-Sunita. See photos". The Indian Express. 9 November 2022. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  2. "Harshvardhan Kapoor: If I had my way, I would do one film every two years". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 10 September 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
  3. "Harshvardhan Kapoor talks about his father's influence in his career". India Glitz. 24 April 2022.
  4. "Harshvardhan Kapoor demands privacy for pregnant sister Sonam Kapoor". Bollywood Life. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
  5. "Mirzya star Harshvardhan Kapoor: At 16, I predicted Anurag Kashyap will change the film industry". India Today. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  6. "Physical transformation hardest part of prep: Harshvardhan Kapoor". Indian Express. 10 September 2016. Archived from the original on 15 September 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
  7. Roshmila Bhattacharya (3 October 2016). "Harshvardhan Kapoor walks down the memory lane". Mumbai Mirror. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  8. 8.0 8.1 "Harshvardhan Kapoor: I Am Nothing Like My Father Anil And Sister Sonam". NDTV.com. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  9. "EXCLUSIVE: I was never dating Sapna Pabbi, says Harshvardhan Kapoor". pinkvilla. 13 September 2016. Archived from the original on 14 September 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
  10. "Consider Aamir my inspiration, says Harshvardhan Kapoor". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 17 September 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
  11. "Mehra searches for today's Mirza-Sahiban through his adaptation of Punjab's love story". The Indian Express. 30 September 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  12. "Mirzya co-stars Harshvardhan Kapoor, Saiyami Kher have become friends for life". The Indian Express. 5 October 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  13. "Harshvardhan Kapoor trained in horse-riding for two years for Mirzya". Hindustan Times. 15 September 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  14. "'Mirzya' wows audience at the London Film Festival". The Times of India. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  15. Iyer, Meena (7 October 2016). "Mirzya Movie Review". Times of India. The Times Group. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  16. PTI (7 October 2016). "'Mirzya' review: Impressive performance by Harshvardhan Kapoor & Saiyami Kher, but a one-time watch". The Economic Times. The Times Group.
  17. "Harshvardhan Kapoor already shaping up for his next film with Vikramaditya Motwane". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 20 October 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
  18. "Bhavesh Joshi Superhero gets the Chavanprash advantage, thanks to Arjun Kapoor. Watch video". Hindustan Times. 13 May 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  19. 19.0 19.1 "Sometimes, great movies bomb at the box office. Like Bhavesh Joshi, 5 films you need to discover online". www.hindustantimes.com. 18 August 2018. Archived from the original on 15 December 2018. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  20. 20.0 20.1 "Bhavesh Joshi Superhero - Movie - Box Office India". www.boxofficeindia.com. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  21. "Bhavesh Joshi Superhero Movie Review". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 3 June 2018. Retrieved 3 June 2018.3.5/5 stars
  22. "Bhavesh Joshi Superhero Movie Review: Harshvardhan Kapoor Shows Off His Training In A Tedious Film". NDTV. Archived from the original on 3 June 2018. Retrieved 3 June 2018.2/5 stars
  23. "Bhavesh Joshi Review: Impressive, Admirable Attempt at Creating Middle-class Superhero in Real World". News18. Archived from the original on 25 July 2018. Retrieved 3 June 2018.2.5/5 stars
  24. "AK VS AK: Harshvardhan Kapoor's Performance Gets a Thumbs, Actor Elated with the Response".
  25. Hungama, Bollywood (8 October 2021). "3 Years of Andhadhun: Director Sriram Raghavan reveals how Harshvardhan Kapoor lost the lead role to Ayushmann Khurrana : Bollywood News - Bollywood Hungama". Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  26. 26.0 26.1 "Netflix's 'Ray': The perks and perils of stardom". The Hindu. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
  27. "Ray review: Manoj Bajpayee, Harsh Varrdhan Kapoor stand out in irreverent but inconsistent Netflix anthology". Hindustan Times. 25 June 2021. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
  28. "Harsh Vardhan Kapoor says he got no money left in his account". Daily Research Plot. 10 May 2022. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
  29. HT Entertainment Desk (6 May 2022). "Anil Kapoor, Harshvardhan Kapoor and Fatima Sana Shaikh host Thar special screening". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
  30. IANS (26 April 2022). "Director Raj Singh Chaudhary opens up on shooting in the rugged Rajasthan desert". Pinkvilla. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
  31. "Thar Movie Review: Thar is worth watching for its plot, direction, music score". Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
  32. "Thar review – Anil Kapoor's violent cop thriller puts the punch in Rajasthan". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
  33. "Thar Review: Cruel & Compelling". Lehren. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
  34. "Thar Review : An Interesting Reimagining Of Western Noir". The Times Of India. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
  35. Coutinho, Reubyn (7 May 2022). "Thar (2022) on Netflix is An Essential Piece of Cinema for Western Aficionados". Netflix Junkie. Retrieved 23 September 2022.
  36. "Thar Movie Review: Anil Kapoor's Heroics And The Rugged Terrific Locales Salvage This Dark Gritty Thriller". Outlook India. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  37. Hungama, Bollywood (9 February 2023). "Harsh Varrdhan Kapoor reveals details about his upcoming project; says, "I want the Abhinav Bindra biopic to be a theatrical" : Bollywood News - Bollywood Hungama". Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  38. Kulkarni, Onkar. "Harsh Varrdhan Kapoor shares an update on Abhinav Bindra biopic". The Times of India. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  39. "Anil Kapoor-Harsh Varrdhan Kapoor starrer Thar to release on Netflix on this day". The Indian Express. 10 April 2022. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  40. Bradshaw, Peter (6 May 2022). "Thar review – Anil Kapoor's violent cop thriller puts the punch in Rajasthan". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  41. 41.0 41.1 "Thar review: Old wine in a rustic but beautiful bottle". The Week. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  42. "Harsh Varrdhan Kapoor thanks trolls for 'free motivation' as he celebrates 'huge achievement' as Thar's producer". Hindustan Times. 7 October 2022. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  43. "Harshvardhan Kapoor". www.platform-mag.com. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  44. "Big Star Entertainment Awards 2015 nominations". Pinkvilla. 3 December 2015. Archived from the original on 5 December 2015. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
  45. "ITA Awards 2022 complete winners list". Indian Express. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  46. "Harshvardhan Kapoor is fighting with Filmfare. But how credible are awards ANY way?". India Today. 20 January 2017.
  47. "Winners of the absolut ELYX Glamour and style awards 2016". Filmfare. 16 October 2016.
  48. "Nominations announced for Danube Properties Filmfare OTT Awards 2022". FILMFARE. 21 December 2022. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  49. "Winners of 22nd Annual Star Screen Awards 2015". Bollywood Hungama. 8 January 2016. Archived from the original on 10 January 2016. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  50. Sen, Sushmita (20 December 2016). "Sansui Colors Stardust Awards: Anushka Sharma, Amitabh Bachchan bag Best Actor titles; complete list of winners". International Business Times. Archived from the original on 1 August 2017. Retrieved 10 February 2022.

External links[edit]

Template:Screen Award for Best Male Debut