Even a decade after its theatrical release, Kapoor & Sons remains one of the most refreshing and emotionally layered family dramas in modern Bollywood. The film is remembered for its stellar ensemble cast, starring Rishi Kapoor, Sidharth Malhotra, Fawad Khan, Alia Bhatt, Rajat Kapoor, and Ratna Pathak Shah. However, behind the scenes of this movie, director Shakun Batra faced some challenges, particularly when it came to working with Rishi Kapoor.
In a recent conversation with Galatta Plus, Shakun Batra opened up about the friction he experienced with Rishi during the shoot. He revealed that their working relationship wasn’t always smooth, saying, “We clashed a lot. If there is one thing that everyone saw every day was Rishi sir coming on set and me getting scared because I was like, I don’t know if I can convince him of what the scene is. We went back and forth.”
The tension often came from their different approaches to filmmaking. Shakun mentioned that because he didn’t always shoot in a traditional manner, Rishi would occasionally resist his directions. He would tell him, “Then I won’t give a shot,” explaining that he was “saving my performance for a close-up.” To bridge the gap and keep the filming moving, Shakun found unlikely allies in the film’s younger leads, Alia Bhatt and Sidharth Malhotra. Whenever he felt he needed another take but was hesitant to ask Rishi, Alia and Sidharth would step in to take the blame.
Recalling their teamwork, Shakun said, “If I wanted another take, Alia or Sid would be like, ‘Sir, I messed up that dialogue, can we take it again?’ Because I would just look at them and be like ‘I think I need one more take’, and Alia would be like, ‘Okay, I got it’.” This collaborative effort helped maintain the balance on a set that eventually helped make a successful film. Kapoor & Sons is based on a dysfunctional family reuniting in Coonoor after the grandfather suffers a heart attack. The film was widely praised for avoiding typical Bollywood melodrama, instead focusing on real, flawed characters dealing with sibling rivalry, strained marriages, and hidden secrets.
Also Read: Rishi Kapoor’s last interview with Filmfare
By
