Bollywood actor Arjun Kapoor was told at the beginning of his career that he is not "conventionally" good looking. But he says he's glad that unconventional is the ‘new cool in the entertainment business.
He has droopy eyes and has faced comments regarding his weight. Asked about how he has dealt with such remarks, Arjun told IANS here: "As you know that Aditya Chopra gave me the first break, he made me aware of the fact that I am not conventionally good looking and that I have to achieve everything through my work.
"I think my imperfection makes me attractive and these days, unconventional is new ‘cool'... You know what I mean?"
From the day superstar Salman Khan identified his potential as an actor and urged him to work on weight loss, from giving auditions for his debut, facing a box office failure with "Tevar" to delivering a successful film like "2 States" -- Arjun had quite a bumpy ride in Bollywood.
Being a foodie, does he miss out on his earlier diet or look?
"Well, my cheeks are still chubby... That is God gifted, what to do," he laughed, adding, "I do not complain about my diet because I am leading a healthy life now. Earlier, because I was obese, I had health issues. I am fit now.
"There is a difference between being conscious and under confident. As a kid, I was the latter. I was a happy fatty kid who couldn't play football, basketball, couldn't talk to girls for dating... Because I was quite under confident. Things started changing when I focused towards becoming an actor," he shared.
While he agreed that nepotism exists in the film industry, asked if it made him face extra criticism and scrutiny, Arjun, who is the son of film producer Boney Kapoor, said: "See, I have seen the film industry in and out. I can identify a constructive criticism, and differentiate between bullying, things coming from biased space and the judgment of audience.
"If a film is doing business of Rs 100 crore, it cannot be a bad film because our audience loved it.
"On the other hand, some critics said that I need to improve my dialogue delivery as it is too fast at times... I find that as correct assessment, so I am working on that. I cannot do much on my droopy eyes, but can work on my expression, which I am doing in films, based on characters.
"But at the end of the day, for an actor, box office speaks volumes. There is no point of generalizing on critics as well as star kids. And being a mature man, I won't let criticism affect my peace of mind," he said.
The actor is looking forward to his upcoming film "Half Girlfriend" opposite Shraddha Kapoor, slated to release on Friday.
