Neetu Kapoor with husband Rishi Kapoor and son Ranbir. (Photo: Express Archive)Ranbir Kapoowill soon be seen in Shamshera, in which he will face off against Sanjay Dutt’s villain. In an interview, he reacted to stories about Sanjay making fun of him for doing films like Barfi, and said that the iconic star always had his back. Shamshera director Karan Malhotra also recalled working with Ranbir’s father, Rishi Kapoor, on Agneepath.
Sanjay told Bollywood Hungama that he’s very pleased that Ranbir has chosen to star in an out-and-out commercial action film like Shamshera, and that ‘it’s wonderful to see him as an action star’. Reminded about how he made fun of his earlier career choices, which were dominated by coming-of-age films and romantic comedies, Ranbir said, “He’s always had my back, he’s very happy and proud with everything that I’ve done. But he has always inspired me to do films of a different nature, and also films that speak to a larger audience. I’m so glad to have a father figure like Sanju sir, who has my back and is constantly motivating me, inspiring me…”
At the trailer launch event of Shamshera, Ranbir had revealed that Sanjay would call him and shout at him for doing ‘bad films’. He said, “When I was working in Barfi and Rockstar, I used to work out in his gym. He used to tell me, ‘Tu do saal se yahan gym kar raha hai. Par teri body kahan hai?‘ He would also ask me, ‘Tu abhi Barfi kar raha hai. What is your next film then? Peda? Laddoo?‘”
In the period action epic Shamshera, Ranbir plays the dual roles of a father and his son. Sanjay plays the villainous officer Shuddh Singh. Ranbir’s last film, incidentally, was Rajkumar Hirani’s biopic of Sanjay, titled Sanju. It remains Ranbir’s highest-grossing film. The actor would hope to best that film’s performance with the two big-budget projects he has lined up for this year — Shamshera and Brahmastra.
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Director Karan Malhotra also recalled how Ranbir’s father, the late actor Rishi Kapoor, would butt heads with him every day, on nearly every shot when they worked together on Agneepath. But, he said, Rishi would always come around to his vision. And Ranbir is similar in many ways, although he has a different personality. Ranbir recently said in an interview that his father warned him about working with Karan, and said that he would make his life hell by demanding multiple takes.
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