Ranbir Kapoor began his career in Hindi films as an assistant director on Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Black, and later made his acting debut in the director’s 2007 film Sawariya. In a recent interview, Ranbir reminisced about his college days in Mumbai and New York before joining the film industry, saying that his father, the late actor Rishi Kapoor, had him live on a shoestring budget in New York and taught him the value of money.
After graduating from college in Mumbai, Ranbir enrolled at the School of Visual Arts in New York. However, upon returning home, his father thought Ranbir was too young to make his acting debut and decided to send him back to New York. This time, the Animals star enrolled at the famous Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute to study method acting.
During his time at film school, his father put him on a strict budget, barely enough to have two meals a day. Sharing his experience with Nikhil Kamath, he said, “At that time, I wanted to come back and work. I felt I had the American experience – not so much from college, but from speaking to people from all over the world and living on my own. My father put me on a strict budget. Of course, when I say strict, I come from a privileged background, but it was enough for me to have McDonald’s dollar menu meals for lunch and dinner. So, $2 for lunch, $2 for dinner, that kind of thing. Even though I come from a privileged background, it was that strict.”
Furthermore, when asked why his father imposed such strict living expenses on him, he replied, “My father never mentioned it, but I think he wanted me to live like a student, not like a superstar’s son. Maybe he wanted to teach me the value of money.” Ranbir also revealed that he continued to live frugally after returning to Mumbai as his father no longer gave him pocket money. He recalled using public transport while working as Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s assistant in the film Black. “My father wanted to teach me that this is not life, you are too rich, you need to know what difficulties are like,” he said.
Talking about his college days in Mumbai, Ranbir recalled how he picked up the “bad” habit of smoking during his time at college in the city and how the habit continued until he finally quit last year for health reasons after the birth of his daughter Raha. “HR College reminds me of smoking because it was the first time I bought a pack of cigarettes. Smoking with friends outside college makes me feel like a grown-up. It’s the first time I wear my own clothes instead of a uniform.”
Earlier in an interview to Filmfare, Neetu Kapoor had also spoken about Rishi’s insistence that his children get a mainstream education. “When Ranbir was working as his assistant on Black, Rishi would ask him to go by car or bus… But poor Ranbir is tall and had to take a long flight to the US, and he had to travel in economy class. He would say, ‘Mum, my legs are numb, I’m cramped’. My only precaution was to give him an aisle seat so that at least he could stretch his legs. I think these things are important. I owe it all to my husband, because I spoiled my children.”
On the work front, Ranbir will next be seen in Nitesh Tiwari’s ‘Ramayan’, Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s ‘Animal’ and Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Love and War’.
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First uploaded on: 29 July 2024 12:00 IST
