Ranbir Kapoor marked his presence at the Red Sea International Film Festival in Jeddah on Wednesday and was part of the ‘In Conversation’ sessions at the festival. During the session, Ranbir talked about his box-office debacles and his long-term plan is to direct films, and act in them too.
“I’ve always wanted to direct and make a movie. But I’ve really not mastered the courage to write a story,” he said, as reported by Deadline. The actor further added, “I’ve always waited for a story to come to me naturally. But the f**k 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,” he added.
Addressing the failure of his recent film ‘Shamshera’, he revealed the “biggest mistake” he made during the film. “When you’re shooting in the heat, and you stick on a beard, it’s like your face is melting,” he said. Further opening up on the only film from his career that “hurt” him, RK said it was Anurag Basu’s ‘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. That’s the only film in my career that hurt me,” he said.
When asked about the state of the Hindi film box office, he told Deadline, “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.”
He did not rule out that south Indian films have taken the world by a storm, including his wife Alia Bhatt’s ‘RRR’. Ranbir said, “They’re doing really good storytelling. It’s not taking itself too seriously. It’s got all the songs, dances, action, friendship, and comedy. So it’s a multi-genre film, but those are hard films to make because we try to make them, and they keep failing. So we’re really proud that a film like RRR is making an impact in Hollywood.”
Coming to Alia, who is going to be making her debut in the West with ‘Heart of Stone’, Ranbir says he has no plans to do so yet, and 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.”
Ranbir will next be seen in Luv Ranjan’s romantic comedy starring Shraddha Kapoor, and Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s crime thriller ‘Animal’.
