Ranbir Kapoor says father Rishi Kapoor ‘was always a big bully’: ‘He used to test his directors’

Actor Ranbir Kapoor has revealed that his late father-actor Rishi Kapoor ‘was always a big bully’ and would ‘test his directors’. In a new interview, Ranbir also said that director Karan Malhotra, who directed him in Agneepath, was able to always stand his ground with Rishi Kapoor. Ranbir also said that filmmaker Zoya Akhtar also told him that Rishi would ‘take over project’. (Also Read | Ranbir Kapoor: ‘Dad told me never to do a film that needs me to wear a dhoti’)

Rishi featured in Karan Malhotra’s directorial debut Agneepath in 2012. The action drama also features Hrithik Roshan, Sanjay Dutt, Priyanka Chopra, Kanika Tiwari, Om Puri and Zarina Wahab. Ranbir will star in Karan’s next film Shamshera.

In an interview with Peeping Moon, Ranbir said, “My father was always a big bully and he used to test his directors. If he comes on too strong and the director doesn’t hold his own and agrees to everything he says, he knows he has to take over the project. So he always did this testing thing but thankfully, Karan (Malhotra) is such a confident person himself that he always stood his ground.”

He further added, “Even Zoya (Akhtar) used to tell me that he is such a bully but if you don’t stand up to him, he will take over the project. So this was his way of testing people.” Rishi was part of Zoya Akhtar’s 2009 film Luck by Chance. The film also stars Farhan Akhtar, Konkana Sen Sharma, Juhi Chawla, Dimple Kapadia, and Hrithik Roshan among others.

Ranbir will next be seen in Shamshera, set in the fictitious city of Kaza where a warrior tribe is imprisoned, enslaved and tortured by a ruthless authoritarian general Shuddh Singh. The film also stars Sanjay Dutt and Vaani Kapoor and is all set to release on July 22.

Apart from Shamshera, fans will also see Ranbir in Ayan Mukerji’s Brahmastra. The film also features Amitabh Bachchan, Alia Bhatt, Mouni Roy and Nagarjuna. Brahmastra will release theatrically on September 9 this year in five languages–Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada.

Ranbir will also feature in Luv Ranjan’s next untitled romantic comedy film opposite Shraddha Kapoor. The film, produced by T-series, is slated to hit the theatres on March 8, 2023.