When Rishi Kapoor fell on the feet of Rajkumar Hirani’s mother to cast Ranbir Kapoor in a film

Rishi Kapoor is known to be unfiltered when it comes to his behaviour in public, and especially when his son Ranbir Kapoor is involved. But his passion comes out because he cares deeply for him, Ranbir said in a recent interview.

Speaking to Mid-Day, the Sanju star said that he is afraid of confronting his father about his public outbursts, and passes messages on to him through his mother, Neetu Kapoor. Ranbir said that he felt bad for director Anurag Basu for having faced his father’s wrath, and for composer Pritam, who was also not spared during the Jagga Jasoos fiasco.

Rishi had publicly criticised director Anurag Basu for being ‘unprofessional’ and ‘overindulgent’ about his film Jagga Jasoos, and for not showing it to anyone before release - even Ranbir, who produced and starred in it.

But Ranbir said that he has his father to thank for being hired by Rajkumar Hirani in Sanju. Years ago, Ranbir said, his father met Hirani’s mother shortly after the release of Hirani’s second film, Lage Raho Munna Bhai. Rishi fell to her feet and said, “Your son is a genius, and I hope he works with my son at some point.”

Hirani cast Ranbir in a cameo in his 2014 hit PK, and when the time came for him to cast an actor to play Sanjay Dutt in Sanju, he found Ranbir. Ranbir’s performance has been praised, even if the film itself has drawn mixed reception from critics. Sanju has made more than Rs 500 crore worldwide and is on the verge of eclipsing the domestic total of Salman Khan’s Tiger Zinda Hai this week, to become the fourth highest grossing Hindi film of all time.

Follow @htshowbiz for more