Cute. That more or less sums up Pankaj Kapur and Neelima Azim's son Shahid. After learning dance from Shiamak Davar, the youngster then dabbled in modelling.

Films were on the cards next. 2003 marked his debut. The teenybopper crowds fell for his chocolate boy looks and confident performance in Tips' Ishq Vishk (Amrita Rao, Shehnaz Treasurywalla).

Even though his popularity wasn't the dizzying kind, Shahid had arrived.

Enter 2004. The actor picked up every award in town (and outside) for Best Newcomer.

He is levelheaded as well. Instead of signing every film dangled at him, Shahid took his own sweet time to choose projects. Right now, he is working on Ken Ghosh's Fidaa (Fardeen Khan, Kareena Kapoor), Satish Kaushik's Milenge Milenge (Kareena) and Anant Mahadevan's Dil Maange More (Soha Ali Khan).

Shahid's love life is a topic of speculation right now. The 23-year-old actor is reportedly seeing another Kapoor, Kareena.

Photo: Jewella C Miranda