Ram Kapoor state getting typecast as ‘family face’ limited his opportunities: ‘They felt audience may not accept me as the villain’

Actor Ram Kapoor, known for his memorable performances and unique project choices, has won acclaim from both movie and TV audiences. He began his career with popular TV soaps and later made a successful transition to cinema. Despite this, Kapoor recently shared that he initially faced challenges in the film industry due to being typecast as a “family face.” He stated that this typecasting limited his opportunities to explore diverse roles.
“I was very strongly cast as a typical family face of the country, and I did so many successful television shows. So, whenever I used to get a good film offer or whenever a big role would come my way, I would always be shortlisted in the last two or three rounds. I have done a lot of roles in the first few years,” Kapoor, who will be next seen in the action film Yudhra and the musical drama TV series Khalbali Records, recalled during a chat with Pinkvilla.
He also noted that filmmakers would often choose other actors before finalising him for a role, explaining, “They said, ‘Don’t let him do something so different because he is very strongly loved by the audience as a typical family face of the country. So they may not accept him as the villain or as the negative character or anything else.’”
Kapoor, however, stated that he never saw this as an issue, viewing typecasting as a testament to his talent in a particular kind of role. “For example, when you look at comedy, we have Johnny Lever, and everyone knows that he got typecast in comedy. But this was because nobody was as good as him. He was the best of the best,” Kapoor explained. He also cited the cases of Pran and Prem Chopra, noting that they were typecast as villains because no one was as good as them.