Ranbir Kapoor’s humble start: Smita Jaykar recalls actor eating prawn curry on floor at her home

New Delhi: Smita Jaykar hosted a young Ranbir Kapoor at her home and never realised who he was. She found out only in 2009, on the set of Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani, when the actor thanked her for the prawn curry she had served him years earlier.

Smita shared the memory in a conversation on Siddharth Kanna’s YouTube channel. On that set, she said, Ranbir told everyone around that she makes excellent prawn curry. “I didn’t know it was Ranbir Kapoor. I didn’t pay any attention to him,” she said.

Ranbir Kapoor Ramayana: From assistant director to leading man

Ranbir is now preparing for Ramayana, a film reportedly made on a budget of Rs 4,000 crore and tipped as Bollywood’s most awaited release. Smita’s story takes him back to the time when he worked as an assistant to Sanjay Leela Bhansali and did not mention his famous surname.

The visit came about because Bhansali wanted her input on costumes for Bajirao Mastani. He arrived with designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee, and Ranbir came along as part of the team. Nobody told Smita he was Rishi and Neetu Kapoor’s son. The two senior men settled on the couch, while Ranbir took a seat on the floor. She says she cannot even recall his face from that day.

Her son had played football with Ranbir, so the two had crossed paths before, yet she did not link the young man in her living room to him.

Bajirao Mastani Salman Khan version shelved

At the time, Bhansali was planning the film with Salman Khan. The project was dropped, and talk in the industry blamed Salman’s breakup with Aishwarya Rai. Bhansali revisited the story in 2015, with Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone in the lead roles.

Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif on Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani set

Smita was also asked about the romance that grew between Ranbir and Katrina Kaif during the 2009 shoot. She compared it with Salman and Aishwarya’s relationship on Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, saying Ranbir and Katrina were far more private. “Ranbir and Katrina were cautious,” she said.

The couple parted ways in 2016. Katrina married Vicky Kaushal in 2021, and they have a son, Vihaan. Ranbir married Alia Bhatt in 2022, and they have a daughter, Raha.