Saw Shahid's potential when people judged him as chocolate hero: Pankaj Kapur

It is an actor's skills and not his looks that define him, believes veteran actor Pankaj Kapur, who says he recognised his son, actor Shahid Kapoor's potential when people in the film industry only saw him as a "chocolate hero".

Shahid, who made his Bollywood debut with 2003's "Ishq Vishk", established himself as a leading man with romantic comedies and dramas like "Fida", "Chup Chup Ke", "Vivah", "Jab We Met", among others.

"... Not just because he is my son, but as a colleague, as an actor, I could see the potential in him even 10 years back at the time when he was only being judged as a good-looking chocolate hero," Kapur, 65, told PTI in an interview.

While Shahid received mixed reviews for his latest "Kabir Singh", father Kapur was all praise for his performance and said people have now started recognising his ability to act.

"I said it 10 years back that he is a dramatic actor and as time will pass, people will see his ability as an actor. And now suddenly people have started recognising -- 'oh he can do this, he can do that'.

"When an actor gets an opportunity to do things only then can he prove his mettle," the "Maqbool" actor said.

According to Kapur, it is the ability of a person as an actor that "sustains him rather than anything else".

"We have had examples in our industry of people working for 30-40 years because of their ability to act. Your looks leave you after a point, you don't look the same way you did when you were in your 20s or 30s," he said.

"After that you have only your ability to show," he added.

The father-son duo have worked together in "Shaandaar" and "Mausam", which Kapur also directed.