Shanaya Kapoor, daughter of Sanjay and Maheep Kapoor, is currently working as assistant director on the Gunjan Saxena biopic, which features her cousin Janhvi Kapoor in the lead role. On Tuesday, Sanjay Kapoor told Pinkvilla that this is Shanaya's prep work for her full-fledged Bollywood debut. "It's true that Shanaya is now in Lucknow and working as an assistant director on Janhvi's film. It was a joint decision. She was very keen on doing something different to understand the space rather than just wasting time. Before she wanted to take up a film, she didn't want to be abroad for a three-year-course. Instead, she chose something personal like this," said Sanjay Kapoor, who has featured in films such as Sirf Tum and Darna Mana Hai. He was last seen in Lust Stories.
"She is doing her acting workshops, her dance classes and other things that you need to do before you take it up as a career... Obviously, I'm always there to guide her. Nothing in life is better than experience," he added.
Shanaya comes from an illustrious Bollywood family - her uncles are filmmaker Boney Kapoor and actor Anil Kapoor. Actors Sonam Kapoor, Harshvardhan and Arjun Kapoor, and filmmaker Rhea Kapoor are her cousins.
Shanaya appears to have taken a leaf out of Sonam and Arjun's book for making a career in films. Sonam also started her career as an assistant director. She worked behind the cameras with Sanjay Leela Bhansali in Black and later, she was launched by Mr Bhansali in 2007's Saawariya. Arjun Kapoor also assisted Nikhil Advani on Kal Ho Naa Ho and Salaam-e-Ishq before he debuted in 2012's Ishaqzaade.
