Janhvi Kapoor: When I was promoting Dhadak I was unsure of who I was. I was numb and people thought I was cold

Two films old Janhvi Kapoor made her debut in 2018 with 'Dhadak' alongside Ishaan Khatter. The film which released under the banner of Karan Johar's Dharma Production was the Hindi adaptation of the national award-winning Marathi film, Sairat, which had won many accolades internationally. Commercially too, Sairat had been a huge hit in Maharashtra. Ishaan Khatter by then had made his debut as an actor in Majid Majidi's film, 'Beyond The Cloud'. Hence, the real purpose of 'Dhadak' was simple: a platform to check if Sridevi's elder daughter Janhvi Kapoor possessed the same kind of talent like her mother. Although she had developed a strong fanbase on social media, her debut failed to live up to the hype, that was centred around the launching of Janhvi Kapoor.

During an interaction with BBC radio, the actress opened up about her privileges and life under the spotlight. 

"You know there was a point when I felt like I need to cater to some kind of idea that of how people think I am but I think that people are smart and they recognise honesty and I think that is what they value most, someone who is comfortable enough to be themselves. And I honestly don't have the headspace to try to be anything else anymore. I don't know if I tried but when I was promoting Dhadak there was a phase I was unsure of who I was and what I need. There were so many people telling me things and there were so many things happening in my personal life and professionally that it was just.. I think I was numb and I was very shut down, I think a lot of people perceived that as cold, snobbish, ditzy. I got that a lot because after that I went to producers they said that you are so different about what we thought you were," said Janhvi during her interaction.

Janhvi Kapoor was shooting for Dhadak at a time when she had just lost her mother Sridevi. Sridevi breathed her last on February 24 and her debut film released on July 21, the same year. At various promotional events of the film, she was often asked about her mother. 

While talking about living up to the expectations set by her parents Janhvi said," I think I gave them a reality check with Dhadak. Yeah, they do have a lot of expectations, I mean of course, they do why wouldn't they? I think my mom, my family, has given them so much in terms of entertainment, content, given Indian cinema, and they have given my mom, my dad so much love and admiration and appreciation that honestly, the life that I'm living the opportunities I'm getting is because of these people's love. I mean, of course, they will expect. It is like I know they are expecting much more than they would from other people, maybe more than I can deliver but  if I know that's what they are expecting At least, I will reach close to it, as oppose to if I do a bare minimum job and be pleasantly surprised oh at least she can breath on screen."

On the work front, Jahnvi Kapoor was recently seen in the Netflix film Ghosh Stories. She is expected to be seen in Takht. However, Karan Johar recently announced that all films under the Dharma Productions banner have been kept on hold until further notice.