Shahid Kapoor: Had to smoke 20 cigarettes a day for 'Kabir Singh' and shower for 2 hours before meeting Misha and ZainApril 11 (AZINS) For 'Kabir Singh' -- Hindi remake of Vijay Deverakonda’s hit Telugu drama 'Arjun Reddy' -- teetotaller Shahid Kapoor had to puff as many as 20 cigarettes and bidis a day.

"I don’t endorse smoking at all. However, the role required it, as the protagonist uses it to channel his angst and rage.  It wasn’t easy, and it came to a point where I smoked almost 20 cigarettes a day. It would take me close to two hours to shower and get rid of the smells before I could return home to my children," Shahid, who is father to two-year-old Misha and seven-month-old Zain, told Mumbai Mirror.

Before this, Shahid Kapoor has played Tommy Singh, a rockstar hooked to drugs, in Abhishek Chaubey's 2016 film 'Udta Punjab'.

'Kabir Singh' chronicles the journey of an alcoholic surgeon who goes on a self-destructive path after his ex-lover (played by Kiara Advani) gets married. In an earlier interview with PTI, Shahid had stated that the team of the film has tried to keep the original film's intensity and honesty alive.

"The original was very raw, very honest. I don't think there was anything in the film that was for effect. I just felt it said things as it is and was a brazen journey of a character who goes through an emotional arc which is extreme," said Shahid.

The film, directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga, is scheduled to release on June 21.