Juhi Chawla called Rishi Kapoor and me Tom and Jerry: Sharmaji Namkeen director

Describing his equation with the late Rishi Kapoor, director Hitesh Bhatia on contemplating casting Ranbir for Sharmaji Namkeen

There is insurmountable pressure on a director when he is tasked with making a film. But for Hitesh Bhatia, who was making his debut as a director with Sharmaji Namkeen, the task increased tenfold when the star of the movie, Rishi Kapoor, passed away. For months, the makers toyed around with the idea of roping in Ranbir Kapoor and getting him fixed with prosthetics to play his father to finish the remaining 40 per cent of the film. “We didn’t have [enough footage of Rishi] or the right information to get it done,” says Bhatia, who was in touch with several big international studios to bring fruition to Rishi’s last film. “The process was getting hindered again and again and the end result was not good.”

Hitesh Bhatia and Ranbir Kapoor

Grateful that he had the full support of the Kapoor family, Bhatia says, “Ranbir was helpful at every step when we needed him. He said, ‘Whatever you need from the family, we are here because it is dad’s last film’. He was on board with prosthetics, provided [it didn’t look] shoddy. When we were not satisfied, we dropped the idea and decided to cast another actor,” says the director. Paresh Rawal was then brought on board to take over from where Rishi left off.

Reminiscing his journey with Rishi through the comedy that dropped on Amazon Prime Video recently, Bhatia recounts, “One day, he point-blank refused to do a scene. [There was] no debate or discussion on it, and I was perplexed about how to go forward. I walked out. His make-up man rushed behind me to inform me that sir wanted to talk more. I was convinced he would demand that the director be replaced. I went back, and he started screaming at me, saying, ‘I will do what you want. Don’t blackmail me, I know you are playing games with me’. And I couldn’t stop laughing. He is a father figure to me, but I realised that at heart he is just a kid—full of love and has his own way of [doing things. Before the fight ended] we were ordering biryani and kebabs for lunch. Juhi [Chawla] often called us Tom and Jerry.”

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