Bollywood superstar Ranbir Kapoor talks ‘Shamshera’, embracing fatherhood, and his long career

Gulf News

For the first time in his career, Ranbir Kapoor will play a fierce warrior/tribe leader in ‘Shamshera’ and he’s also gearing up for becoming a first-time-dad with Alia Bhatt.  Read the full story here: https://gulfnews.com/entertainment/bollywood/watch-ranbir-kapoor-channels-his-rage-in-shamshera-but-finds-peace-in-his-personal-life-and-impending-parenthood-1.89420381  See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km  Subscribe to Gulf News on YouTube and watch more of our videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/GulfNewsTV  #UAEnews #ranbirkapoor #shamshera

Transcript

00:00I think there were two days. One was the first day of the film and I was like I wasn't prepared for this

00:04like like like

00:05What have I got myself into and the second was the last day of the film where I was like I'm prepared to do

00:10Any film in my life right now

00:13You know, I'm not offered this genre usually

00:19People don't see me in such roles

00:20Every actor has a certain lane and they're usually put to stay in that lane either by the audience or by themselves that you know

00:27I'm accepted in such genres in such roles

00:31I've been playing too many coming-of-age films. I've really come of age now. My soul has been searched. There is nothing left to search

00:38So it was a natural progression for me, you know to do films of such nature

00:42I guess my first 15 years of my career. I didn't have the confidence maybe

00:46the directors didn't have the confidence to

00:50Show me in in a film like this, you know to offer me characters like this

00:54So when it was offered to me, it was a natural excitement

00:58You know, I was very grateful that I got offered a film of this nature

01:01I got offered two parts two characters to play in the same film. Yes, it was extremely challenging

01:06I was not prepared for the challenges that were that were lying ahead on this film

01:12Extremely grueling extremely physically tiring mentally tiring

01:16There were days that I used to sit in my trailer van between shots and I had to talk to myself

01:20You know to like listen, you got to do it and and it's fine. And you know, it required that kind of

01:26Patience and that kind of mental strength having said that I think when you make films of this nature of this scale

01:33That's the prerequisite that you are required to come with with

01:37You know, you're required to face this challenge

01:39I was also waiting to partner with the correct director and I found that in Karan Malhotra

01:44He's somebody who believes in these films. He's somebody who breeds these films, you know

01:49I've known him since we were kids. Our fathers were best friends actually and

01:54Then over the years, you know, we'd be lost in touch and then we reconnected on this film

01:57So I think somewhere our ideologies or the movies that we grew up on are pretty similar

02:02My choices may have been very different from what Shamshera is the first 15 years of my life

02:07But eventually the films that we love or we talk about and we discuss are pretty much the same films

02:12So it was a win-win for me

02:13You know to work on a film like this and to work with Karan as an audience when I heard the script

02:17I was like, wow, what a

02:19What a crazy ride

02:20But when you're actually a part of that ride and you're going through the beats

02:23Every day was a surprise every day. It was like what is happening, you know, like what is this?

02:28Like what is this vision? What is this? What are these things that I'm doing?

02:32What is this forces of nature around me? That's you know, making this a

02:36large-scale

02:38Entertainer, I think every day we were faced with this challenge

02:42You know the thing is I'm sorry even in a romantic song

02:45It was like a action film like me and her were on harnesses. We were in a sandstorm

02:50We were like everything was like designed to really, um, you know for the big screen

02:57Extravagance every single thing Sanjay Dutt has been working for 40 odd years

03:01He's been at the top of his game for 40 years. And I've been working since 15 years and I

03:07I

03:08Understand what it takes for an actor. I mean it was hard enough to survive 15 years

03:12But for someone to be on the top of game for 40 years, he definitely has something extremely special in him

03:18You know, uh, we all love Sanju baba. We all love him for the person

03:21He is for the star he is for the rock star he is

03:24But uh, you know when you get an opportunity to work with him and see him on set

03:28It's a different experience altogether. I have never and i've i've grown up in films

03:33So i've seen a lot of people on a film set

03:35I have never seen a man who can attract so many people when he comes on set

03:40They're like 300 350 people on set

03:42Everybody is just drawn towards him when he walks on set not because of just his stardom

03:47But because of the person he is, you know

03:49He's he knows everybody by the name if it's light man, if it's the stunned people, they all love him

03:55He's constantly he's so mischievous like you have no idea. You never know when he's going to pull a fast one on you

04:01And when he is about to give a take he just switches on

04:05And I was always wondering that somebody who's having so much fun on set

04:09How is he going to play this character? This character is so terrifying. He's so menacing

04:13Uh, how is he going to make that switch and it was so effortlessly done, you know to see him like that

04:19You know, we take our lives too seriously. Like, you know, we are we are this serious actor and we have to

04:24Change cinema and change the world, but we are just here for entertainment, you know

04:28We are just trying to make good movies to entertain an audience and I think Sanjay Dutt gets that, you know

04:33He doesn't take himself too seriously. He doesn't take his stardom too seriously

04:37And I love him, you know, i'm so grateful that I have his support. I have his hand on my head

04:42You know, he reprimands me. He inspires me encourages me and i'm very grateful to have that father figure in my life

04:48Well the second way i'm not prepared yet. I'm still preparing and I will get qualified as the journey starts of fatherhood

04:55Uh, we've been chatting about it. He has two children. Yeah, and he's also been

04:59Telling me his life experiences and that's what i'm collecting right now is life experiences. I'm scaring him

05:05But uh to answer your first question, uh, you know, it was all on paper, you know

05:09I think the script was so strong. The characters were so strong

05:12I was offered only Bali which was the son's part. I offered myself to do Shamshera

05:17uh, then that's when our journey began of a lot of look tests about

05:21Uh, you know trying to make both the characters very different at the same time

05:27Very real at the same time very cinematic

05:30So it was a big challenge because i've never ever played characters like this. I've never played

05:34I've never been in a movie like this

05:37But I think my partner in crime Karan Malhotra was somebody who gave me a lot of confidence

05:41He instilled a lot of angst in me

05:44And I think that was the prerequisite of of Shamshera is because it's a very angsty role

05:48It's a very angry role a very angry film

05:50Of course, it has the light moments of romance comedy and all of that

05:53But that's something which doesn't naturally come to me

05:56So that was something which was challenging. I had to work very hard on that. I've never ever

06:01Slapped anybody in a movie also and here i'm in an action bonanza

06:05So everything was new for me. Everything was like what is happening. It was tough. It was challenging

06:10There were days that I was giving up

06:13But I think the intention to tell this story to give this experience to the audience

06:17Was very motivating and inspiring and that's what pulled me through

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