Almost minutes after you meet him, Shahid Kapoor admits that marriage and parenthood have changed his outlook towards most things. And, believe us, this is not the first time he is saying it because in the last few years, he has experienced both the aspects. The actor tied the knot with Mira Rajput in 2015 and the couple had their first child, Misha, the following year.
He says, “I have bought a new home in Central Mumbai. It will be a year-and-a-half, perhaps even two, before we do the interiors and move in there. However, it’s an investment that I needed to make. I have a much smaller home in Juhu and with two children (the second one arriving in September), the requirement of the family has changed.”
The Batti Gul Meter Chalu actor harks back to a time when he loved intimate spaces. He recalls, “Earlier, when I was house-hunting, I would tell my estate agent that I want a place where there were few neighbours. I didn’t want anyone gawking at me. I wanted to go home quietly and not be waylaid by people.”
Sasha still loves his Juhu beach-facing abode that offers him a lot of privacy. But, now there is a difference. He elaborates, “The new home that Mira and I have booked has a garden and other amenities like a gymnasium, etc.
Today, our requirement is having a safe place for Misha where she can play with others. We want her to be with kids of her age because that’s how she will have a regular childhood.”
He adds, “My outlook towards designing our house has changed. At my earlier pad in Andheri and the current one in Juhu, I broke down most of the walls and made it completely open. I liked the feeling of a home being intimate yet having a lot of open space within. The walls gave me a feeling of being constricted. So, I had converted my 3BHK Andheri home in such a way that I had a massive bedroom, a walk-in wardrobe and the works. I was a bachelor then and my views on the subject were diametrically opposite to what they are now. Today, I want my children to have their own rooms. Obviously, Mira and my requirement is having a bigger space where the two of us can spend time.
We like the thought of staying in a high-rise that offers us solitude, yet gives us access to some aspects that families need.”
