Actor Ranbir Kapoor, despite being born into one of the most illustrious Bollywood families, had a normal upbringing. His late father, actor Rishi Kapoor, kept him on a tight budget when he went to the US for studies and also took away his car when he started to assist Sanjay Leela Bhansali on his film ‘Black’.
After finishing his studies in Mumbai and New York, Rishi Kapoor sent Ranbir back to the US, as he felt he was too young to start his acting career. So, Ranbir enrolled himself at the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute to learn method acting. But Rishi gave Ranbir only enough money to manage two meals a day.
Sharing his experience with Nikhil Kamath on his podcast, the Animal actor said, “By then, I was very eager to come back and start work. I felt like I had gotten the experience of America. It was not really the college experience but the exposure of talking to people from all over the world and living alone. My father had kept me on a very tight budget. Of course, when I say tight budget, I am still coming from a privileged background, but it was enough to have a McDonald’s dollar menu meal for lunch and dinner. So, it was like $2 for lunch and $2 for dinner. It was as strict as that, even though I come from a privileged background.”
Ranbir feels that by doing so, his father wanted to keep him grounded and disciplined. “He never addressed this, but I think he wanted me to live like a student and not a superstar’s son. Maybe it was to teach the value of money.”
Even after he returned to Mumbai, Ranbir had to spend money wisely, as Rishi Kapoor stopped giving him pocket money. Additionally, when he started working with Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Rishi took away his car and asked him to travel by public transport.
“My father wanted to school me that this is not life, you are too moisturised, you need to see what hardship is,” said Ranbir.
During the interaction, Ranbir also shared that he never saw his father’s eye colour as he always talked to him with his head held down. “His temperament was so volatile that it always scared me. He was a short-tempered man but also a good man,” Ranbir said about Rishi Kapoor.
Rishi Kapoor died at the age of 67 on April 30, 2020, after a two-year battle with leukaemia.
Source Agencies
