Ranbir Kapoor, who attended the Red Sea International Film Festival 2022 in Jeddah on Wednesday, discussed his life and acting career during an In Conversation session. Excerpts:

“It’s been pretty bad these last few years. The entire culture of going to a theater 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,” said Ranbir.

He also described his 2017 film Jagga Jasoos – his ‘passion project’ – as “another disaster. ” “It’s a film that I produced. 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 was quoted as saying.

Talking about the popularity of South Indian movies, Ranbir said, “They’re doing really good storytelling. ” Giving the example of RRR, he added, “It’s got all the songs, dances, action, friendship, and comedy. So it’s a multigenre film, but those are hard films to make. ”

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Actor Ranbir Kapoor, who made his first public appearance after welcoming his daughter, Raha, with wife, actor Alia Bhatt, spoke about the box-office failure of Shamshera. During a media interaction at the Red Sea Film Festival in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), Kapoor said it’s the hardest movie he has worked on.

“It was a big box-office disaster, but the biggest mistake I made on Shamshera was that I stuck on a beard. When you’re shooting in the heat, and you stick on a beard, it’s like your face is melting,” he said.

The 40-year-old also addressed his 2017 box-office failure, Jagga Jasoos. “It’s a film that I produced. It was a passion project. 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.”

Talking about the dismal state of Hindi films at the box office in the recent times, the Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva actor said that the situation has been “pretty bad these last few years”.

Kapoor added, “The entire culture of going to a theatre for a community viewing of a movie seems like dying, and it’s only there for the big-ticket films. But I hope with strong storytelling, and renewed vigour, Indian cinema comes back.”

Throwing light on his long-term career plans of making films, Kapoor said, “I have always wanted to direct a movie. But I’ve really not mastered the courage to write a story. I’m not a writer, and I’m really shy when it comes to sharing my ideas with others. But I’m working on it, and it’s something that is in my 10-year plan: To start directing movies and hopefully act in them too.”