‘I have a man’s ego’

Although she comes from a film family, Sonam Kapoor is determined to make her own identity without any help from her actor-filmmaker father Anil Kapoor as she feels that scope for growth under a banyan tree is bleak. “I feel there’s very little that can grow under a banyan tree. So, I have tried to create my own path and I have very successfully done it – whether it’s through my fashion or movies I choose,” said the 28-year-old in a group interview.
In her six years in the industry, with 11 films and hits like “ Raanjhanaa” to her credit, Sonam has avoided taking a piggy-back ride on her dad’s strong shoulders. “Very thoughtfully I tried not to do much with my father. It’s a very selfish decision, as I just wanted my own identity. So even when ‘Aisha’ was produced, my sister (Rhea) produced it. It was her first film. I never asked my father to do this for me. I think I have a man’s ego in a lot of ways,” she said. “And also, I don’t want to take away his hard work. If I don’t do well and he has put in his money or name on me, then 40 years of his hard work goes down the drain because his daughter is a disappointment. So, I would rather fall down on my own and I don’t want to take my dad with me,” she added. From her 2006 debut film “Saawariya” to subsequent releases “Delhi-6”, “Players” and “Mausam” — all were box office disappointments. She says she was too young to understand a few things in the past.
“I realised that because of my glamorous image and being a fashion icon, I don’t need to do films to add star value to myself. I was too young to understand that back then, but I am old enough and now understand that because of my image I can get away with doing more real films. But that doesn’t mean I am only doing ‘Raanjhanaa’ or ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’, in which I am playing a quintessential rooted Indian girl.” She was seen as a high society fashionista in “Aisha” and as an uptown girl in “I Hate Luv Storys”, which didn’t garner enough success at the box office. Once again she will be seen as a modern girl in Yash Raj Films’ project. “There is this film with Yash Raj, in which I am playing a modern girl from Gurgaon. She is a banker. So, I really want to pick characters like young girls, cool, not-so-cool girls — as long as they are real girls,” she added.