Ranbir Kapoor on box office disasters, South films and his plans to direct

Ranbir Kapoor, bearded, dressed in a blue suit, recently attended the Red Sea International Film Festival in Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah. In an interview with Deadline, on the sidelines of the event, he talked about his box office disasters, Bollywood struggling in theatres and his long-term plan to direct.

Calling his period action film Shamshera the “hardest he has worked on,” Ranbir said, “It was a big box office disaster, but the biggest mistake I made on Shamshera was that I stuck on a beard.”

Ranbir was talking about the prosthetic beard he had worn for the film. “When you’re shooting in the heat, and you stick on a beard, it’s like your face is melting.”

The actor also talked about his 2017 film Jagga Jasoos. “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.”

Speaking about Hindi films’ dismal performance at the box office, Ranbir told Deadline, “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 vigour, Indian cinema comes back.“

The actor also praised South cinema and films like K.G.F 2 and RRR. “They are really doing good with the storytelling.” Ranbir also told Deadline that his long-term plan is to move behind the camera.

“I’ve always wanted to direct and make a movie. But I’ve really not mastered the courage to write a story,” he said. 

“I’ve always waited for a story to come to me naturally. But the thing 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.”

Ranbir will be next seen in Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Animal and an untitled romantic comedy featuring Shraddha Kapoor.