Black Warrant actor Zahan Kapoor, the grandson of the late Bollywood star Shashi Kapoor, opened up about the Kapoor legacy, acting ventures and the entertainment business after winning IMDb’s "Breakout Star" STARmeter Award recently, recalling lessons learnt from industry stalwarts like Rishi Kapoor and Hansal Mehta.

The award is given to actors who have performed strongly on the popular Indian celebrities list, based on online database platform IMDb’s page views.

Zahan made his acting debut in 2022 with Faraaz and has since been recognized as a promising talent in Indian cinema. He gained widespread recognition last month for his portrayal of Sunil Kumar Gupta, the former superintendent of Delhi’s Tihar Jail, in Black Warrant, directed by Vikramaditya Motwane.

The Netflix prison drama propelled Zahan to the IMDb Popular Indian Celebrities list, where he has ranked in the top 10 three times, even reaching the No. 1 spot two weeks ago.

“I'm really honoured to receive the IMDb ‘Breakout Star’ STARmeter Award. It's not only my first award but also one that is generated by fans. This is very special because it's from all of you. It means that the work we did resonated, and everyone wanted to know more about me. So that's very exciting,” Zahan said.

Giving a tour of Prithvi Theatre, the Faraaz actor said, it's a very “special place” for him. “I’m very grateful to be part of it and to continue it,” the young actor commented about the legacy of the Kapoor surname.

“Rishi Kapoor used to say ‘don’t let success go to your head and don’t let failure get to your heart’. That attitude defines the working members of the family,” Zahan further said.

Zahan, who started off as a theatre actor in Makrand Deshpande’s play Pitaji Please, said that he used to watch Naseeruddin Shah’s rehearsals for the stage production of Arms and the Man.

Zahan also revealed that Hansal Mehta gave him a lesson on restraint during the shoot of Faraaz: “Hansal Sir told me, ‘don’t overdo it. Trust the director. Give your shot and move on’.”