Love & War starring Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt and Vicky Kaushal has been steadily building buzz, and now a new behind-the-scenes revelation has added to the intrigue. Senior actor Ashwin Kaushal, who plays Ranbir Kapoor’s father in the film, shared how the role came his way.
“I was initially considered for another role.”
In an interview with Siddharth Kannan, Ashwin Kaushal revealed that his casting was not part of the original plan. The actor shared that director Sanjay Leela Bhansali had called him for the first time to play a different role.“In February last year, Sanjay Leela Bhansali wanted to meet me. Their set was set at Film City. I went there and met him for the first time. He told me that there were one or two sequences in the film – and that was for another role. The next day, I got a call from his office saying that after observing me, he had something else in mind.
“And that’s when I was told that I would be playing Ranbir Kapoor’s father.”
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“It’s very grounded.”
Ashwin also spoke about his experience working with Ranbir Kapoor, highlighting the actor’s humility despite his stardom.He described it as a full circle moment, and noted his admiration for it
Rishi Kapoor
. “Rishi Kapoor was perfect for me, almost like a father figure to me. And now I have to play Ranbir’s father – fate works in strange ways,” he said.“Ranbir is very well-mannered. There is no attitude at all. There is no attitude at all,” he added.
He received me with a lot of warmth and he knew that I had worked with his father in Damini. “He was very cooperative.”
The big release is closed for 2027
Meanwhile, Love and War is shaping up to be one of Bhansali’s biggest films to date. The director recently set January 21, 2027 as the release date, to coincide with the Republic Day weekend.The film is also said to have been shot on a grand scale. Reports state that the large-scale air action sequences and extensive VFX work are among the main reasons behind the long production schedule, making it one of Bhansali’s most ambitious projects to date.
