MUMBAI: Actor Ranbir Kapoor walked out on the stage at the Red Sea Film Festival on Wednesday to discuss his life and career during the final ‘In Conversation’ sessions. Crowds were excited and even broke out in song as the actor marked his presence on the stage. The crowd was full of people from all over and was composed of local and international Bollywood superfans. The fans even took control of the keynote session and began to hold their own session, asking Kapoor personal questions, running up to take selfies, and offering him screenplays.

Later that evening at a party, Kapoor told a media portal, “It’s part of Indian culture. The songs, the dances. They love the movies, especially the Asian subcontinent. So it’s always great to get that love.”

While the audience was very excited, Kapoor was feeling more reflective. He spoke in length and discussed the projects in his filmography that he believes were failures, either due to poor box office numbers or conflicting artistic results.

Speaking about Shamshera, he said it was “by far the hardest film I’ve worked on. It was a big box office disaster, but the biggest mistake I made on Shamshera was that I stuck on a beard. When you’re shooting in the heat, and you stick on a beard, it’s like your face is melting.”

Kapoor further discussed his 2017 family drama Jagga Jasoos, which he described as ‘another disaster’. “It’s a film that I produced. It was a passion project. It was directed by Anurag Basu. It was a very heartwarming and sweet idea, but it didn’t do well, which really hurt,” he said. “That’s the only film in my career that hurt me.”

Shamshera is among the many big-budget, high-profile Bollywood films that have struggled at the box office this past year, even though cinemas were open and without any restrictions for almost a year. Kapoor told a media portal, speaking of the situation at the Indian box office, “It’s been pretty bad these last few years. The entire culture of going to a theatre for a community viewing of a movie seems like it’s dying, and it’s only there for the big-ticket films, but I hope with strong storytelling, and renewed vigor, Indian cinema comes back.”

Talking about the South film industry that has had many box-office breaking titles both in India and overseas, he said, “They’re doing really good storytelling,” citing S. S. Rajamouli’s RRR, which has grossed more than $140 million worldwide and is speculated to even be receiving awards, as an example of South-Indian filmmaking.

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Recently, his wife, actress Alia Bhatt made her Hollywood debut in the spy thriller, Heart of Stone by Netflix and Skydance. It also stars Gal Gadot and Jamie Dornan. While Bhatt has finally made her debut in Hollywood, Kapoor told the portal that he doesn’t see himself crossing over industries anytime soon. He said, “I'd never say never, but I’m pretty content with the kind of opportunities that are coming my way in my country in my language. I do have a certain block in my head about acting in English. I’d rather act in my language because it comes naturally to me. But never say never.”

Workwise, Kapoor is set to star in two upcoming films that will release in 2023: an untitled rom-com featuring Shraddha Kapoor, and a crime thriller titled Animal, directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga. However, Kapoor revealed that his long-term career goal is to become a director. He said, “I’ve always wanted to direct and make a movie. But I’ve really not mastered the courage to write a story. I’ve always waited for a story to come to me naturally. But the f*ck up is that I’m not a writer, and I’m really shy when it comes to sharing my ideas with other people. But I’m working on it, and it’s something that is in my ten-year plan: To start directing movies and hopefully act in them too.”

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Credits : Deadline

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