No Vanity Van, No Entourage: Rajkumar Hirani Recalls Ranbir Kapoor on Sanju

Filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani has shared an interesting insight into Ranbir Kapoor’s work ethic, revealing that the Bollywood star had no entourage while shooting Sanju.

At a time when the growing size of actors’ teams has become a talking point in the industry, Hirani said Ranbir preferred to handle everything himself and remained directly accessible to the cast and crew.

‘There was no manager’

In an interview with Zoom, Hirani said he has been fortunate to work with actors who never made demands related to entourages.

“I’ve been fortunate with the individuals I’ve worked with. I haven’t encountered entourage issues with Arshad Warsi, Sanjay Dutt, Aamir Khan, and Ranbir Kapoor,” he said.

Recalling the making of Sanju, Hirani revealed that he completed the entire film without ever dealing with Ranbir’s manager because the actor didn’t have one on set.

“I managed the entire film without even knowing who his manager was. There was no manager. He personally reached out to everyone. Every assistant had his number, and if he needed anything, he would message them directly,” Hirani said.

He added that although he often hears stories about actors arriving with large teams, his own experience with Ranbir was completely different.

Co-star recalls Ranbir’s simplicity

Similar observations have been made by others who have worked with Ranbir. Earlier, Animal actor Srinath Maganti recalled that the actor would arrive on set without an entourage and would often arrange snacks for everyone around him.

Speaking on the Sodhi Chebutha podcast, Srinath said he was initially told not to touch the food because it was meant for Ranbir. However, the actor overheard the conversation and encouraged him to eat, joking with him in his trademark light-hearted manner.

The incident added to Ranbir’s reputation as an actor who keeps things simple on film sets despite being one of Bollywood’s biggest stars.

Next up: Ramayana

Ranbir Kapoor will next be seen in Nitesh Tiwari’s ambitious mythological epic Ramayana. Produced by Namit Malhotra, the two-part film stars Sai Pallavi as Sita, Yash as Ravana, Ravi Dubey as Lakshman and Sunny Deol as Lord Hanuman.

The first instalment is scheduled to hit theatres during Diwali 2026, with the second part set for a Diwali 2027 release. Reportedly mounted on a massive budget, Ramayana is among the most-awaited Indian films of the coming year.