Sanjay Leela Bhansali used to beat me on set: Ranbir Kapoor

When asked about his experience of working with Bhansali, the Rockstar actor on actor Neha Dhupia’s podcast in 2016, No Filter Neha, compared him to a “taskmaster” at a circus. “He was a hard taskmaster and I was kneeling down on set, he would beat me. After a point, it got so heavy and I felt so tortured that I had to quit the film at a point. I think it was like 10 or 11 months into my job and I am like ‘ listen I can’t do this, it’s getting to me.’ I think I am too sensitive and emotional and he got to know me so well and he kind of kept poking into that. He got too much, went crazy as far as I was concerned,” he said in a resurfaced interview.

Although, while he felt tortured, Kapoor also has certain gratitude for Bhansali’s way of direction. “Having said that, I think all the performances that I do in cinema come from that experience, from him. He was a true teacher in that sense. He taught me everything in terms of acting and emotions and stuff like that,” he concluded.

Kapoor’s debut film with the director, Saawariya, was based on Fyodor Dostoevsky’s 1848 short story White Nights and also marked the debut of Sonam Kapoor.

On the work front, Kapoor will be next seen in Shamshera, due to release in three weeks on July 22. The film will also star Sanjay Dutt and Vaani Kapoor. Another much-awaited release is Ayan Mukherjee’s Brahmastra which stars Kapoor with his wife Alia Bhatt along with Amitabh Bachchan and Mouni Roy. Brahmastra: Part I will hit the theatres on September 9, 2022. Apart from that, he has also been shooting an untitled Luv Ranjan film alongside Shraddha Kapoor.