Sanju appears to be on course to smash all box office records for Bollywood films as the Ranbir Kapoor-starrer biopic of Sanjay Dutt crosses the Rs 500 crore mark.
But, little was known up until now on how Ranbir bagged the lead role for Sanju. Last, Ranbir was seen in Rajkumar Hirani’s project was in the Aamir Khan-starrer PK, where he had a brief presence.
Now, it has emerged that Rishi Kapoor went to extra lengths to secure the lead role for his son in Sanju. Speaking to Mid-Day, Rishi said that one day, he casually bumped into Hirani’s mother. What he did next was quite unthinkable as he fell flat on Rajkumar Hirani’s mother’s feet! He then told her, “Your son is a genius, and I hope he works with my son at some point.”
The incident, according to the Mid-Day interview, took place soon after blockbuster Hirani-directed, Lage Raho Munna Bhai, had set the box office on fire in 2006.
Rishi Kapoor reportedly shared this anecdote to stress just how much he cared about Ranbir’s career. He was asked about his unusual outbursts against Anurag Basu and Pritam Chakraborty post the release of Jagga Jaasoos. An angry Rishi Kapoor had then caused quite a flutter after he publicly slammed Anurag for not showing the film to anyone before releasing it to the audience. He had also lashed out at Pritam for releasing the songs just a week before the film’s release.
Ranbir had later come out in defence of his father saying that that his public rant was borne out of concern for his son’s career. Ranbir had said that while he felt for Anurag and Pritam, he couldn’t challenge his father because he was too scared of him. The Sanju actor had also added that he often used his mother Neetu Singh to convey his sentiments to his father in the event that he had any issues with him.
Rishi Kapoor’s outspoken nature has always landed him in trouble. Last year, journalists in Delhi were enraged after he accused them of arriving to cover an event only to consume free alcohol. He was also trolled recently as critics accused him of plagiarism on Twitter.