Ranbir Kapoor wants to turn director in the next 2-3 years: ‘My last decade as an actor’

Nitesh Tiwari’s directorial, Ramayana: Part 1, featuring Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Rama, Sai Pallavi as Sita, Yash as Raavana and Ravi Dubey as Lakshman, as hit the screens on November 5. The film has released globally, and thus the actors have gone all out with its promotional activities. In a joint video interview of Ranbir and Sai with BBC Asian News Network, the Brahmastra actor, revealed that he still harbours the dream of directing a film.

Speaking about what fascinates him about direction, Ranbir Kapoor shared that directors are constantly thinking, whereas actors give their shots and wait for their next scene. Sharing some details about the kind of project he wants his directorial debut to be, the 44-year-old said, “I just started writing a script a couple of months back, and it’s so hard to create. I have so much respect for writers and creators. ‘How do you create?’ It’s exciting because I truly believe that after a musician, if there’s somebody who feels a creative high, it’s the director. An actor’s high is very superficial but the director, when he directs a movie, however good or bad, the opportunity to tell a story and get all these people together to tell your story, it’s just a beautiful experience and I hope I can do it.”

Does the actor have a particular genre in mind to start off with? Answering that question, the Animal star explained that there isn’t a specific genre he’s eyeing, but mostly slice-of-life films. He said, “I can’t define the genre but I’ll tell you all my favourite films… and I hope it comes in that bracket like Life is Beautiful, It’s a Wonderful Life, Rajkumar Hirani movies. I would say like a feel-good family drama.”

Also Read: Abhay Arora on portraying Parshuram in Ramayana: ‘Idea was to put Ranbir’s face on mine’

Ranbir Kapoor’s ‘last decade as an actor’

With the sequels to his released films, Brahmastra, Animal, and Ramayana awaited, the host asked Ranbir how he manages to allocate time to writing. Responding to this, Ranbir shared, “I work only 100-125 days a year; I have a lot of time to write stories. I’ve never ever been so busy, never ever been so committed. I’ve always had one film out, and then I would start working on the other film. But, I guess, it’s my last decade as an actor; will I get to play these parts? I do want to kind of pivot towards direction. I don’t want to direct myself for sure. I really want to get these films done (Brahmastra 2, Animal 2 and Ramayana Part 2), and really get on floors with my directorial debut within 2 or 3 years, I hope.”

When Ranbir Kapoor spoke about his directorial dream

Last year, on his birthday (September 28), Ranbir Kapoor went live from his brand’s Instagram handle, and answered his fans’ questions. During that session, the actor had expressed his desire to become a director by saying, “I am dying to direct a movie. I have actually started a writers’ room recently. I am trying to inspire myself with the two ideas I have. I am starting to work on it, but it is definitely on my to-do list in the next couple of years.”

Ranbir’s father, actor Rishi Kapoor, also directed a film in his career, titled Aa Ab Laut Chalen (1999), featuring Rajesh Khanna, Aishwarya Rai and Akshaye Khanna. Ranbir, who was around 15-16 years old, assisted his father as a director on that film. Ranbir then went on to assist Sanjay on Black.

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His grandfather, Raj Kapoor, was one of the pioneers of Indian cinema and directed many classics through the 1950s, including Awara, Shree 420, among many others. Raj Kapoor started his RK Studios when he was just 24.

Ranbir Kapoor’s upcoming film

Apart from the sequels of the above-mentioned films, Ranbir Kapoor will also be seen alongside wife Alia Bhatt and Vicky Kaushal in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s period drama, Love And War. The film is scheduled to be released on January 21, 2027.