Arjun Kapoor shared this picture. (courtesy: arjunkapoor)

New Delhi:

Arjun Kapoor isn’t someone who is new to the world of trolling, especially now that it has spread like “forest fire” for him. In the latest episode of Koffee With Karan 7, Arjun Kapoor talked about his early years in the film industry, receiving hate comments on social media and being an everyday name for trolls. He told Karan Johar, “I don’t want to listen to the trolls. I want to continue to get respect from my audience. I want to tell them I’m here for you. So, my putting myself out there, was a way of telling them, listen I’m working towards it.”

Arjun talked about his body transformation and how it all happened because he is passionate about his work. “It’s amazing how you can have reactions that are so varied in the way they are going about- whether it’s to do with my personal life. It was more to do with the fact that I really care about my work. I really do. I’m really passionate about cinema. I’m really passionate about being in this profession. I take my work very seriously and somewhere down the line when I made my debut that somehow, I came across to the audience that here’s someone who wants to be an actor, who wants to be known. There was a physicality that I brought. I was very unique in that sense. I made my debut as a grey-shaded actor. I did 2 States after that and then, Gunday. I presented myself in the best way possible and along with all my producers and the way I was showcased. I think I set a standard and the audience accepted me.”
 

He said that somehow, the audience perceived him as “lazy” and “laidback.” “I think let the audience down, I let my films that I wasn’t able to keep up those standards that I had only set. And somewhere that started showing an attitude or a feeling to the audience that I’m lazy, I am laid back, I don’t care. I’m not bothered or I am not capable enough to present myself in the best way possible and I think, it was also the time of transition when social media became more and more relevant,” Arjun said.

The 37-year-old actor added that trolling became more evident in his life, especially when parts of information from his personal life also surfaced on the web. “It became more and more as the films didn’t do well and I came out with my personal life and I was looking a certain way. I think it is a combination of all 3. Trolling has no end. Once it starts, it’s like a forest fire, it spreads. It becomes loose, like everybody says it, even jokingly. Even you make fun of yourself. And then, I realised I’m not that person. I care,” he said.

On the work front, Arjun Kapoor starred in the recently released film Ek Villain Returns with John Abraham, Tara Sutaria and Disha Patani.