Shraddha Kapoor / Wikipedia

Her nickname is 'Chimdi' meaning petite, tiny, little - yet she has ensured that nothing about her is little, least of all her stature as a Hindi film actress. She has some of the biggest hits to her credit, and some rather saucy link-ups too - we are talking about none other than actress Shraddha Kapoor. 

Let's celebrate her  by reminiscing about some of the highs she enjoyed, while conquering her lows.

In the world of Nepo-kids, when you think about veteran actor Shakti Kapoor and his wife, who is not only related with yesteryear superstar Padmini Kolhapure but also the illustrious Mangeshkar family, you would think debuting in Hindi films might have been a cake-walk for Shraddha Kapoor. After all she did sign a 3 film deal with the biggest banner in India straight after her debut film Teen Patti which had her rubbing shoulders with none other than Amitabh Bachchan, Ben Kingsley, R Madhavan and others. Yet, there has not been a more ostracized star kid than Shraddha. What was supposed to be her golden ticket, turned out to be a noose around her neck!

Simply because she couldn't relate to the script of Aurangzeb and refused to wait around twiddling her thumbs till Thugs of Hindustan happened, she opted for the noir - romance, Aashiqui 2 instead and rubbed the influential lot the wrong way. YRF has, since, not approached her for any film yet, Dharma though gave her OK Jaanu and others, since Karan Johar isn't the type to let a successful actor slide by without milking their star stat. Unfortunately, none of the Dharma films Shraddha did worked! What more, Shraddha wasn't interested in creating scandals on Koffee With Karan so she didn't go after the first and the last time she went to promote Aashiqui 2, 10 years ago. She opted to refuse Jabariya

Jodi starring Sidharth Malhotra and chose Chhichhore with Sushant Singh Rajput. 

Everything screaming out the one fact - she didn't need validation from the industry bigwigs, she would much rather follow her gut. While her choices have always hit bullseye where cinema is concerned, it has always doomed her growth in the industry, because she ends up rubbing the 'influential' the wrong way.

Yet, she is one of the few female actors who has a successful film franchise to their name - Stree. What started in 2018, has been going super strong even in 2024 - which is more than others could achieve. But does Shraddha Kapoor rank amongst the 'Alia Bhatts' of the industry? NO! Despite the fact that Forbes has been listing her amongst the top 100 actors of Bollywood consecutively for years, none of the Indian magazines have listed her. Simply because her PR work isn't that effective, she lets her movies do the talking. 
Perhaps that's why Ranbir and Shraddha's starrer Tu Jhoothi Main Makkar despite being one of the bigger films, the lead of the film didn't do promotions together. Ranbir did it separately, fighting every journalist who asked if this was due to Alia's objection. To calm the rumours down, Alia also promoted the most popular song of the film while working out on the treadmill. But some thoughts got embedded in fan's hearts and one of them was about how the lead didn't exactly get along like a house on fire. So while Netflix is minting from the reruns of this romance-comedy, one wonders if the lead will ever do a film together again.

What Shraddha would rather do, is another Stree perhaps. She is the only actress with a hit franchise to her credit, wherein she has been a part of all the films made thus far, furthermore, the franchise will soon be tying up with other Maddock Supernatural Universe and take the horror - comedy genre to a new height. And Shraddha Kapoor will be the only actress to helm her part of the franchise.

But between the politics of film, PR and big banners, is the joy of acting lost for Shraddha? "Not at all, acting has been my only joy since I was a little girl. I have grown up around movies and there isn't anything I know beyond it or genuinely enjoy." She shares honestly, a trait that has always made her fans fall a little more in love with her. The actress continues to be oblivious to any brickbats and insists on putting her head down and working hard. That's the only way she could do films like Haseena, Haider, Ek Villain and others which were so different from the run-of-the-mill films that her contemporaries were churning.

But when films are happening with such gusto, there are few things that get left behind, "I have terrible FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out), when my friends have a get together without me, when my family has some gatherings without me I throw a fit. I feel so left out, I miss the food, the gossip... the togetherness the most. Keeping up with my schedule it is very difficult to have things happening around my off days, I understand but I can still complain, can't I?" Shraddha was quoted saying in an interview. It is this down to earth attitude of hers that has her fans swooning and falling in love with her over and over again. "I like that they (the fans) consider my grounded ways my greatest USP, makes me relatable to them, I guess..." she shrugs while admitting she is just being herself.

Despite her docile, demure demeanor she has always been someone who swims against the tide. For instance, she unapologetically embraces her Maharashtrian roots, while everyone knows it is far more lucrative being a Kapoor in this industry. Her digging into her vadapav and jalebi, walking around without make-up, not bothering to talk about her personal life, at the same time not hiding Rahul Mody as a dark secret makes her the affable actress she is, respected and loved in equal measures. So what if she has odd quirky dislike towards say tomato ketchup, or can mimic her teachers in school with accuracy that has everyone in splits, these oddities make her the person she is, and of course, the actress that she is... with rewards so precious and so many surrounding her, she never misses the fact that awards have been very few in coming.