Ranbir Kapoor has put a timeline on his long-professed ambition to direct: he wants to begin filming his first feature within two to three years, and says the screenplay is already in progress. The statement, made to BBC Asian Network during promotion for Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayana, frames the next phase of a career that began on a film set as an assistant director.
A directing countdown, after three franchises
The actor wants to finish Ramayana Part 2, Animal Park and Brahmastra 2 before he will, in his words, “get on floors” with his own film. He also left open the possibility that his first feature may not include him as an actor: “I might not act in it myself.” Asked about the widely circulated line in which he called the coming years his “last decade as an actor”, Kapoor clarified that he was talking about the roles he can play, not retirement. It is a comment about parts, not exit.
Ramayana begins with a record, and a split scorecard
Ramayana Part 1 opened on 5 November to an estimated £9.6–10 million worldwide on day one, according to trade trackers. In the UK, it collected about £440,000 on opening day — a record for a Bollywood opening — passing Dhurandhar: The Revenge’s £427,000. The United States delivered $2.8 million, the second-largest Bollywood opening there, and the film was reported to be the top film at the US box office on its opening Thursday.
In India, the scorecard is less uniform:
- Day-one net estimates range from £4.9 million to £5.1 million, with an India gross of about £6.1 million.
- Bollywood Hungama counts it as the second-highest opening day of 2026, roughly £105,000 behind Animal.
- Koimoi, by contrast, called the start underwhelming relative to advance sales.
Friday estimates of £3.6–3.7 million net took the two-day India total to about £8.5–8.7 million net. One tracker pegs the worldwide opening ahead of Animal’s £9.1 million, making it the biggest opening of Kapoor’s career.
The budget question
The commercial story turns on recovery. The two-part Ramayana is reported to carry a combined budget of about £315 million at current exchange rates, though the figure is unconfirmed and an earlier Eastern Eye report put it at £375 million. The first instalment’s production and marketing alone is estimated at £110–157 million, with a digital and satellite rights deal of about £35 million reported. Against those sums, the opening is a good start, not the verdict. The real test is whether the film holds through the Diwali season and beyond, and how Ramayana Part 2 performs.
What to watch next
Kapoor’s next release is Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Love & War, set for 21 January 2027. Ramayana Part 2 is due at Diwali 2027, and he has said about half of it is complete. That schedule gives his directorial ambition a concrete sequence: finish the franchise obligations, then step behind the camera — a move with deep family precedent, from Raj Kapoor’s actor-director reign to Kapoor’s own start as an assistant on Black.
Source: EasternEye
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