Ranbir Kapoor is like ‘atta', he will come out as a ‘phulka' no matter how you mould him, says Ramayana co-star; recalls he stayed in Lord Rama's character on set

Indian Express

6 days ago

Ranbir Kapoor-starrer Ramayana, where the actor is set to play Lord Ram, is scheduled to release in 2026 and while the makers have only released a teaser featuring the actor, another actor who stars in the film recently opened up about his work in the Nitesh Tiwari directorial. Indira Krishnan, who is going to play his mother Kaushalya in the film, also shared screen space with him in Animal, and in a recent interview, she shared that he completely transformed to play the role of Lord Rama. She shared that he stayed in character the whole time he was on set.
Talking to Bollywood Bubble, Indira recalled her first day of shoot with Ranbir on Ramayana and shared that they were shooting for a scene where his upper body was to be covered in sandalwood paste. 'Ranbir has worked, not only on his physicality but even his eyes speak a different language. Like Lord Rama is supposed to have strong shoulders because he carries his bow and arrow, Ranbir has worked on his shoulders, his body. He would workout for 3-4 hours, and was always punctual on the set. After pack-up also, he would get back to working out. His dedication was 200 percent,' he said.
Indira Krishnan then recalled the shoot of the sandalwood scene and added, 'I remember the first day, we were shooting for the sandalwood ceremony and the way he sat down, he sat like how one imagines Lord Rama to sit. How he positioned his upper body, his face, his eyes, it's not easy. Because his upper body was without any clothes, since in that scene Lord Rama was wearing just his dhoti. The kind of comfort level he brought in… And I think that is the plus point of Ramayana. You can see that contrast from Animal. The rowdiness that he had in Animal and to present the divine… was a complete contrast for Ranbir. And I am the only one who has seen that contrast. Even the way he interacted with people on set, he was in character.'
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Indira shared that she would like to 'give full points to Ranbir' and added that he would always sit by himself on Animal set as this was the demand of his character. 'When I met him on Animal, he had that thing in his eyes, you could see his character in his eyes and he would always be secluded on the set. He knows his job really well. The intensity that he brings to his work, I would rank him number one among all artistes,' she shared and added, 'He is like atta, you can mould him in whichever way and he will come out like a phulka.'
Indira Krishnan also praised Ranbir Kapoor's conduct on set and shared that even though he has the aura of a star, he doesn't bring it with him like baggage. 'He is a very normal person. He never presents himself like a celebrity or like he is from the Kapoor family. He doesn't bring that aura but he naturally has an aura,' she shared.
Ramayan also stars Sai Pallavi, Yash, Sunny Deol, Ravi Dubey among others. The film is said to have a budget of Rs 4000 crore, as per producer Namit Malhotra.