Sanjay Kapoor, who was recently seen playing Sonam Kapoor’s father in The Zoya Factor, says the best acting opportunities are coming his way now, after all these years.

“When I was young and starting off in the nineties, most characters in mainstream cinema were stereotypical, and not like the way things are today. So, initially I grabbed all the opportunities that came my way. However, now I am getting exciting offers,” he said.

Starting his career in 1995 with the dud Prem, Sanjay has done films like Raja, Sirf Tum, Auzaar, Mohabbat, and Koi Mere Dil Se Poochhe.

“In the nineties, typecasting would happen to all actors. Now, we have better opportunities to showcase versatility,” he added.

He said that with maturity he gains more experiences of life. This has helped him evolve as a performing artist. “For some time, I avoided doing films just to be seen. Perhaps, that is why new offers are coming my way now. Filmmakers can imagine me in certain characters because my talent has not been utilised completely,” said Sanjay, who tried film production in 2009 with Kya Time Hai Yaar and in 2014 with Tevar.

The actor added that success in Bollywood depends upon talent as well as luck. When questioned how much of his career owes itself to luck? he said, “I won’t say that my acting assignments are based on just luck. But I would say that being casted in the Netflix film Lust Stories was because of the right timing. The production team of the film was looking for an actor for the role of Salman, and they were sitting at the club where I went for my daily workout. As I passed by them, they noticed me and approached me for the film. Of course, I finally got the role because of my acting skills but it also happened because I was at the right place at the right time.”

In recent times, Dilbar Dilbar, his song from the 1999 film Sirf Tum, was recreated for the film Satyamev Jayate and was picturised by Norah Fatehi. The new version was a huge hit.

What would you say about the trend of recreating old hit songs? “I think I was fortunate to be a part of films that had superhit songs such as Dilbar and Akhiyaan milaoon kabhi. Those songs not only made my career  but the remix version of Dilbar has also made Norah famous. I think that is how destiny works — unplanned,” he said with a smile.