Shahid Kapoor says he would smoke 20 cigarettes a day for Kabir Singh, shower for 2 hours before returning home to kids

Shahid Kapoor, who is playing the title role in Kabir Singh, has been appreciated for his take as an invective-spouting alcoholic in its recently released teaser. The role needed him to smoke cigarettes and beedis and pretend to snort cocaine, which was tough to do, he has said in an interview. He had to bathe for two hours after the shoot to rid him of the smell before going home to his kids.

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Speaking to Mumbai Mirror, Shahid revealed how playing Kabir was difficult for him. “I don’t endorse smoking at all. However, the role required it, as the protagonist uses it to channel his angst and rage. It wasn’t easy, and it came to a point where I smoked almost 20 cigarettes a day. It would take me close to two hours to shower and get rid of the smells before I could return home to my children.” Kabir Singh, like Arjun Reddy from the Telugu original, is a brilliant but flawed medical student who takes to drugs and alcohol after he is separated from his girlfriend in the film.

Shahid has been shooting for this film in Mumbai, Delhi and Mussoorie for the past few months. Directed by Sandeep Vanga, who directed the Telugu film as well, Kabir Singh also stars Kiara Advani, who will be seen in the role played by Shalini Pandey in the original.

When the teaser released, Shahid wife’s Mira Rajput and Vijay Deverakonda, star of Arjun Reddy, were among its loudest cheer leaders. Sharing the teaser on Istagram, Mira simply wrote: “Boom.” Mira may be a star wife but she has a devoted fan following of her own on Instagram. She keeps posting pictures and videos from her personal life, much to the delight of her fans. Her recent picture only adds to her fans’ delight. Sharing a picture as Instagram story, she said: “Doesn’t look like it’s been a long day.” Wearing a pale pink frill dress, Mira looks fresh as ever even though she says it has been a long day.

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