Saurabh Shukla opened up about the time when he began to lose interest in acting and how it was working with Ranbir Kapoor that reignited the passion in him. Saurabh said that he was going through a low phase when he was only being offered smaller roles in films.

In an interview with ANI, Saurabh recalled, “I met Ranbir in Barfi! I was going through a low phase when Anurag Basu offered me the film. By then, I had become so frustrated. People used to say, ‘Saurabh, you’re such a good actor,’ but when roles came, they were always cameos. I mean, you’d have a day of shooting… and in that one day, what could you do? How much of a role would you have, and how much of your acting could you show?”

Saurabh said that he was struggling a lot. “I was really struggling. So, I started telling people that ‘I don’t act; I’m not an actor. I’m a writer, and I’ve made films.’ When Anurag offered me this film, my first words were, ‘Anurag, call me only if you have something for me that’s worth doing. Otherwise, don’t call me at all.’ I’m so lucky that he didn’t take it the wrong way. He said, ‘Sir, if I didn’t have something for you, why would I call you?’ He gave me that film, which was wonderful,” he added.

The actor added that working with Ranbir helped him in getting out of that phase. “He was so charming, young, full of talks and dreams and everything. I really enjoyed just sitting with him. Also, there’s a sense of innocence in the youth. As we grow older, we gain a bit of head weight. But he was very young. I really enjoyed sitting with him and talking. There was mutual respect,” Saurabh said.

He added, “While acting, he would do something, and I would get something from that. So, my interest came back in acting, and I restarted thinking about it like, ‘yes, acting is a great joy,’ and since then I have been acting.”

Saurabh was last seen in Akshay Kumar and Arshad Warsi’s courtroom-comedy, Jolly LLB 3, which was released in theatres on September 19.