'I was kneeling down on set, he was beating me': When Ranbir Kapoor made this shocking revelation about Sanjay Leela Bhansali

Ranbir Kapoor had started off his Bollywood career with Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s 2007 film, Saawariya. But before being Bhansali’s leading man, the actor had also worked with the filmmaker on Black, as an assistant director. The actor seemed to have gotten much more than he’d bargained for when working with Bhansali. Here’s a look back at what Kapoor had to say on his first collaboration with Bhansali behind the camera.

Kapoor had made an appearance on Neha Dhupia’s podcast, No Filter With Neha. In it the actor spoke of how he was blown away after watching Devdas and had left his resume with Bhansali. The filmmaker had called Kapoor and talked about a script in which he wanted Kapoor to act in. The actor had responded by saying that he’d wanted to focus on filmmaking, and not acting. It was then that Bhansali asked Kapoor to assist on his 2005 film Black.

Kapoor had spent 9-10 months assisting on Black, and said he learnt much more in that period than any film school could teach him. “He was a hard task master. I was kneeling down on set, he was beating me, I was not sleeping well”, said Kapoor.

The actor said that after coming from a sheltered, luxurious background the experience had really ‘grounded’ him. Calling the Bhansali world of ‘dark madness’ ‘humbling’, Kapoor said that it was probably one of the most knowledgeable experiences he had.

But after about 10 months, Kapoor had gotten so ‘tortured’ that he had to leave and quit the film. Calling himself ‘sensitive and emotional’ Kapoor had told Bhansali that the film was ‘getting to him’. The actor also added that Bhansali had gotten a bit ‘too much’ and seemed to have ‘gone crazy’.

Interestingly, Kapoor’s wife and fellow actor Alia Bhatt had revealed that she’d auditioned for Black when she was nine years old.

ALSO READ: Gangubai Kathiawadi: Alia Bhatt reveals she auditioned for Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Black