Sharmaji Namkeen director Hitesh Bhatia thought of roping in Ranbir to finish Rishi Kapoor's part

Sharmaji Namkeen director Hitesh Bhatia revealed that he thought of getting Ranbir Kapoor on board to play Rishi Kapoor's part with the help of VFX to complete the film.

Debutant director Hitesh Bhatia says that he thought Sharmaji Namkeen would be a forgotten dream after actor Rishi Kapoor passed away, until the producers assured him of ways to finish the project, one of which was to get the veteran's son Ranbir Kapoor to play his part.

Sharmaji Namkeen marks the final screen appearance of Rishi Kapoor, who died at the age of 67 in April 2020 after a two-year-long battle with leukemia. At the time of his passing away, Bhatia had completed half of the project.

Eventually, actor Paresh Rawal stepped in to finish the film, which follows the life of a recently retired man, who discovers his passion for cooking after joining a riotous women’s kitty circle.

In an interview with PTI, the Delhi-based filmmaker said Rishi Kapoor's passing away was shocking and nearly sealed the fate of the film.

"It was a tough time and a deeply emotional moment because it came out of nowhere. I had spoken to Rishi ji, very briefly, before he passed away. We were sharing random jokes with each other on WhatsApp, where he was telling me, 'Hey this should be in the film'. It was a normal conversation, where he said, 'Let's start the film soon' and then the news came. No one was prepared for that".

After the veteran actor's death, the director recalled a conversation with his wife, where he told her, "The film is over, it is not going to get made".

Just when Bhatia had "accepted" the film's destiny, the producers of the movie, Farhan Akhtar, Ritesh Sidhwani, Honey Trehan and Abhishek Choubey, reached out to him over Zoom call.