Before making his big screen debut with Ken Ghosh's Ishq Vishk opposite Amrita Rao, Shahid Kapoor was a familiar face on TV having appeared in commercials for Complan and Pepsi and in a popular Aryans video. His boyish charm, original expressions and exceptional dancing made him a darling of the audiences and Shahid went on the win that year's Filmare 'Best Male' Debut Award. The scion of prolific actor Pankaj Kapur and actress/classical dancer Neelima Azeem joined forces with Ken Ghosh yet again for the romantic thriller Fida (2004). The same year, he started dating his co star from the film, Kareena Kapoor. Though 'Fida' was met with a lukewarm response at the box office, Sasha's role as the innocent lover who gets sucked into crime was much appreciated. In Dil Maange More, he romanced not one or two, but three fresh faced heroines – Ayesha Takia, Soha Ali Khan and Tulip Joshi. His stint as the on screen lover boy was met by mixed reviews, as were his next few performances. A breakthrough came in the form of John Mathew Matthan's Shikhar for which Shahid earned his first Start Screen Award for 'Best Actor'. After the moderately successful 36 China Town and Chup Chup Ke, it was with Sooraj Barjatya's 2006 romantic drama Vivah that Shahid finally managed to please film pundits and win over the masses as well.

He picked up his second successive nomination for Best Actor at the Star Screen Awards. Shahid's position as the rising star of Bollywood was cemented with his understated, but rock solid performance as Aditya Kashyap in Imtiaz Ali's boy meets girl caper, Jab We Met. Even though the pair had allegedly broken up before the release, his crackling on screen chemistry with Kareena Kapoor became the highlight of the film. His three year relationship with Kareena Kapoor was the subject of wide media coverage, with the peak being the MMS scandal in which a personal video clip of the actors was leaked out to the public. After their much publicised break up, Kareena went on to date B'Town's 'Chotte Nawaab' Saif Ali Khan, while Sasha busied himself with Aziz Mirza's Kismat Konnection opposite Vidya Balan. Kaminey (2009) was a film laden with many firsts for Shahid Kapoor. B'Town's chocolate boy had never essayed a character with grey shades or taken on the challenge of playing twins in any of his previous films. Most critics and reviewers lavished praise on the young man, and hailed his double role performance as one of his best. Vishal Bhardwaj's character driven semi hit crime thriller was also his premier movie opposite Priyanka Chopra. Shahid's latest films have mostly been YRF productions –Dil Bole Hadippa! And Badmaash Company – the exceptions being Chance Pe Dance, Paathshaala and the much delayed Milenge Milenge, which was shot in 2005. Shahid's next project was father Pankaj Kapur's home production Mausam opposite Sonam Kapoor. The film, unfortunately, did not find any takers at the box-office.

In 2012, the actor was seen in Kunal Kohli's Teri Meri Kahaani, opposite Priyanka Chopra. This film too, failed at the box-office. Shahid will next be seen in Rajkumar Santoshi's Phata Poster Nikla Hero, opposite Ileana D'Cruz, and Prabhu Deva's Rambo Rajkumar.

From a child artiste and back up dancer to one of the industry's most dynamic talents, Shahid Kapoor has traced a rough career graph laden with alternative peaks and troughs.