'Animal' shook me up as an actor: Ranbir Kapoor

Ranbir Kapoor says his upcoming film ”Animal” made him realise ”how inadequate” he is as an actor and pushed him to work hard.

The crime drama, directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga of ”Kabir Singh” fame, also stars Anil Kapoor, Bobby Deol and Rashmika Mandanna.

Ranbir, who has around 30 days of work left on ”Animal”, said his character in the movie is an ”alpha” with shades of grey, unlike his real self.

”It’s a new territory for me. It’s a crime drama and a father-son story. It’s something audiences don’t expect me to do. It has got shades of grey. He is very alpha, again something I’m not. So, I’m looking forward to it.

”It is completely out of my comfort zone. As an actor, such challenges are important as it really shook me up. It made me work hard, and realise how inadequate I’m and how much I needed to work to reach a certain level,” the actor told PTI. Produced by Bhushan Kumar’s T-Series, Murad Khetani’s Cine1 Studios and Pranay Reddy Vanga’s Bhadrakali Pictures, ”Animal” is set to release on August 11.

Ranbir, 40, said he hasn’t signed any film post ”Animal”, but is hopeful that the much-anticipated Kishore Kumar biopic with director Anurag Basu will be on track soon. The duo have previously worked on ”Barfi” and ”Jagga Jasoos”.

”The Kishore Kumar biopic has been in discussion for some time. We are still in talks. Basu is working on the script. Apart from that, there is nothing,” the actor said.

Reports of the actor starring in the biopic of the legendary singer-actor have been doing the rounds for many years. He recently confirmed that he is part of the film at a promotional event of his latest release ”Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar” in Kolkata.

Post the pandemic, the film industry is going through a phase of course correction, believes Ranbir. ”There is a correction happening in the industry. To be honest, not many films are being made right now. Lot of actors and stars are sitting at home. I guess people are confused, what is a cinema film, what is an OTT film. It is a confusing time right now. Hopefully, we will come out of it stronger with better ideas and good content,” he added.

”Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar” released in cinemas on Wednesday. Directed by Luv Ranjan, the film also features Shraddha Kapoor, Dimple Kapadia and Anubhav Singh Bassi.

It is produced by Luv Films and Ankur Garg and presented by Gulshan Kumar and Bhushan Kumar of T-Series.