It is only this 100 per cent trust and faith that I have in God that helps me understand the immense power of life. It helps me accept things whether they are as per your expectations or otherwise, and deal with life accordingly.

[b]Your father Pankaj Kapoor is a Hindu, your mother Neelima Azim is a progressive Muslim. What have you imbibed from them?[/b]

Both my parents have taught me that we should look at all religions without hatred and have compassion for every human being whatever his religion may be. I believe that there is one God up above. Prayer heals you and is very powerful. I always make it a point to pray for the well-being of not only my kith and kin but also of all my friends and colleagues and the world at large.

Do you ever feel stressed? How do you de-stress yourself?

There are a lot of times when I find the need to de-stress. I make it a point to listen to loud music. I take a mug of black coffee in the wee hours of the morning, when there are not many people on the streets and I can afford to roam around without being mobbed by my fans, take out my motorbike and go for a spin to unwind. I also  spend a lot of free time with my family. My brother Ishaan is a great buddy of mine.

When a film fails how do you handle it?

Whenever a film of mine flops, I try not to think of or brood over it. Nor do I become delirious with happiness when a film is a big hit like say, Jab We Met or Kaminey, because I have understood that hits and flops are a part and parcel of an actor?s life and it is not in his hands whether a film clicks at the box-office or tanks badly.

You should remember that a successful film is not always good just because it is a hit and vice versa, a film which has flopped isn't always a bad one, though it may have failed to recover the investment of the producer.

[b]Do you analyse why a particular film, like say Chance Pe Dance flopped?[/b]

When a film is released, it is time for you to move on and look forward. If you have to survive, you cannot afford to look back. There is no point in wasting your precious time, especially since there is the danger that it will take away whatever positivity you may have about a forthcoming film of yours. But I do believe in sitting with my director and analyzing what went wrong so that both the director and I learn from it. Of course I would not like that discussion to go beyond the four walls of my house!

[b]What is your take on ego?[/b]

I feel that ego is something that will take away your ability to recognize mistakes. Today I have no qualms as an actor to go up to say, Raju Hirani or Mani Ratnam or for that matter even Vishal Bharadwaj with whom I have already acted, and tell them that I am dying to work in a film with them. I wish I was a part of films like 3 Idiots, Dhoom or Krrish.

[b]Is the Shahid Kapoor of today different from the Shahid Kapoor of 2000?[/b]

Today I have lost all the inhibitions I had when I began my career way back  in 2000 with Ishq Vishk. I was just yet another kid on the film scene. Today, I feel there is a certain focus and belief in attempting something new. Today I don't feel scared to push the envelope and do something different from what others are doing.

[b]Tell us more about your father Pankaj Kapoor's directorial venture Mausam in which you have been teamed opposite Sonam Kapoor.[/b]

Mausam is a love story. My dad has written the last leg of the story. He told me that though he has put in 35 years as an actor, he did not have any ambitions to prove himself. But now he wants to make Mausam to show his son in a different light as an actor. When I assisted him during his TV serial Mohandas B.A.L.L.B, every day was a workshop with him. The biggest lesson I learnt when I was assisting him was that one should never sit next to the director when the shooting is on. Otherwise you will get blamed for every small thing that goes wrong on the sets!