- Sharad Kapoor recovered from a fractured leg while temporarily sheltering his four dogs in Mumbai
- He appealed for acting work, emphasizing his talent and willingness to return to the screen
- Kapoor began his career in 1993 with TV and film roles, gaining recognition in Josh and Lakshya
Sharad Kapoor went up against Shah Rukh Khan in Josh, played an Army major alongside Hrithik Roshan in Lakshya and shared the screen with Salman Khan in Jai Ho.
This week, fans saw him in a different setting. Recovering from a fractured leg, Kapoor appeared in an Instagram video saying goodbye to the four dogs he calls his children as they were moved to a shelter for temporary care.
The clip drew an outpouring of concern on social media, with some fans saying they barely recognised him.
In a follow-up video, Kapoor told them what he wanted most. He wanted to act again.
“I am a little sad today because my 4 children have been sent to a good place,” he said. “But I want to appeal to the center that I am just looking for good work.”
The first clips were shared by Hema Choudhary, Kapoor's friend and the founder of Mumbai's Bezubaan Public Welfare Trust. Choudhary said Kapoor was dealing with health and mobility problems.
With his wife and their newborn at home and no dedicated caretaker for the dogs, it had become difficult to look after all four. The dogs were moved to YODA Mumbai, an animal welfare organisation.
Kapoor wanted people to know he had agreed to the arrangement. He also wanted them to hear that it was temporary.
“Hi, I'm going to give my dog, with my consent, to Hema, and when I change my house, I will get them, so they will come to me,” he said in one of the clips. He calls them his “babies” and says he intends to bring them home.
Kapoor had already been looking to return to acting when he joined a football game in Barcelona. There were accomplished players on the team, he recalled, and after a while he fancied himself one of them.
“I went to play football in Barcelona like a fool,” he said. “Suddenly I started thinking of myself as Messi.”
Then another player's foot caught his. Kapoor said he knew straight away it was serious. The fracture delayed his plans to get back on set and left him struggling to manage things at home.
When he talked about work, some of the old swagger came through. “A little bit of moral support is also enough for me. I am a brilliant actor and you know that. For a fact. Money is not the issue.”
When Bollywood Knew His Face
Kapoor was born in Kolkata on February 13, 1976. He had no family connections in the film business and had to persuade his family to let him try his luck in Mumbai. He moved in 1993 and later recalled leaving home with ₹300 in his pocket. He spent roughly six months looking for a break. His early credits included a small role in the television serial Swabhimaan and the 1994 film Mera Pyara Bharat. He also worked behind the camera as an assistant director on Lakshmanrekha.
Then came Mahesh Bhatt's Dastak in 1996. It was Sushmita Sen's debut, and it gave Kapoor a part that was hard to forget. He played Sharad Sule, the obsessive stalker at the centre of a thriller that also starred Mukul Dev. After several of his films struggled at the box office, solo leads proved elusive. The roles that stuck were often the ones that put him across from the hero.
In Mansoor Khan's Josh (2000), his Prakash Sharma went up against Shah Rukh Khan's Max. Aishwarya Rai played Max's twin sister. Kapoor earned a Filmfare nomination for playing the villain. Five years later, he was still talking about Josh as the high point of his career, even with several films on the go.
His work went well beyond Josh. In Tamanna (1997), he shared the screen with Pooja Bhatt and Paresh Rawal. He worked with Sanjay Dutt in Vaastav (1999) and Khauff (2000), playing Inspector Arjun in the latter. There was a comedy with Govinda, Kyo Kii… Main Jhuth Nahin Bolta, and a run of ensemble films that included Jaani Dushman, Kuch Tum Kaho Kuch Hum Kahein and LOC Kargil.
Farhan Akhtar cast him as Major Binod Sengupta in Lakshya (2004), alongside Hrithik Roshan, Amitabh Bachchan and Preity Zinta. He played Imran Siddique in Salman Khan's Jai Ho (2014) and Daddan Yadav in Jabariya Jodi (2019), starring Sidharth Malhotra and Parineeti Chopra. Alongside those Hindi films, he built a career in Bengali cinema with Kalo Chita, Parinam, Wanted and Kolkata The Metro Life. In all, he appeared in more than 40 films.
The Work Away From Films
Kapoor was already looking beyond acting while he was still making films. In 2002, he spoke about opening a Chinese restaurant called Destination: Beyond the Great Wall. Three years later, he spent part of Diwali at his Kolkata restaurant, Tangerine. More recent coverage has reported restaurant interests in Mumbai and Bengaluru. Reliable public figures for his per-film fee or net worth are unavailable.
Kapoor married Koel Basu, the granddaughter of former West Bengal chief minister Jyoti Basu, in 2008. The couple recently welcomed a child.
A Chance in January
Kapoor came up when a film's fortunes could turn on a Friday. When he talks about his next role, he talks about streaming and the chance for a performance to find an audience far beyond the cities where a film opens.
“So if I get an opportunity to work in OTT, I will be so happy,” he said.
Choudhary has said she will stand by her friend. Kapoor has said he will bring his dogs home. For a return to acting, he has a month in mind. “Maybe from January I am going to start work again.”
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