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'You can't make a film for yourself.'
'You have to make films for your audience.'
Ranbir Kapoor feels the Hindi film hero has changed today.
And so, he's ready with a slew of films he's never done before.
In Shamshera, he plays a dacoit.
In Brahmastra, he tries his hand at sci-fi for the first time.
And then, he tells Rediff.com Contributor Sameena Razzaq, "I have always been excited by doing something risky and big."
How do you reinvent yourself with every character?
It depends on firstly, your choice, your experiences as an actor.
The director, the script...
That's whY I guess my films take a lot of time because it takes time to understand the director's mind and do some prep work.
Today, the Hindi film hero has changed.
Back then, my father used to tell me that we used to have six-eight releases a year. Four of them would be based on lost and found themes.
The audience then was more forgiving.
Today, the gate has opened.
You have global cinema, Hollywood, South films...so, you really have to be wise in what you choose.
You can't make a film for yourself.
You have to make films for your audience.
So you have to work with people who are making films for the audience.
I have worked with directors, where I have got appreciation for those films, but I realised they were making films for themselves.
Film-making is such an expensive profession, you can't afford to make it for yourself.
You have to make it for an audience.
You are doing Shamshera, Brahmastra, there's the Luv Ranjan film, and also Animal. Is this Ranbir 2.0?
I am not planning anything like 2.0. An actor gets an array of offers, you choose the best of the lot.
I have Shamshera, Brahmastra.
The Luv Ranjan film is a feel-good, romantic comedy family film. It is hilarious. It will make you cry.
Animal is the most shocking character I have played in my career. It has shades of extreme grey.
They are risky films.
I have always been excited by doing something risky and big.
Delayed films usually do not work. Brahmastra is delayed and so is Shamshera. Do delays impact you as an actor?
When a film is delayed, it has many factors attached to it.
I'm not the director, but just an actor.
I'm an employed talent in the film, where I'm told by the director that you have to reach the sets at this time. This is what we are shooting.
Where Brahmastra's delays are concerned, when we started the film, we were not prepared for the animal that it was. It had too many special effects, and we did not expect that.
We were learning as we were making it.
But the intention for every film is to make it to the best of its capability.
Delays mean that a lot of re-shoots happen. There is nothing wrong with that.
Eventually, audience will see the end product.
Where Shamshera is concerned, I don't think it was delayed at all.
I heard the film in 2018. We shot it for 140 days. We had no re-shoots.
Our producer is very precise on where his money is going.
It is not that we were free to make a Mughal-e-Azam.
Brahmastra has been delayed for many reasons, but I hope that the film has its merits when it releases.
From playing Sanjay Dutt in Sanju to having him as a co-star in Shamshera, how different was the experience?
It was amazing!
Sanju is a very big moment in my life, not only because I got to work with Mr (Rajkumar) Hirani, but I also got to act my hero.
As a child, I had Sanju sir's poster in my cupboard.
Finally to work with him, you realise what a great guy he is.
Whenever Sanju sir comes on set, all the 300 people -- the light men, the stunt people -- come down and that energy pulls them towards Sanju sir.
They just look at him, chat with him... that says a lot about the man.
He is a man of the masses.
He knows everybody by their name.
He is such a great guy, so loving, so supportive, not just to me, but also to Vaani, Karan, everybody.
