Panaji:

Bollywood star Ranbir Kapoor on Sunday announced that a film festival showcasing the restored films of his grandfather, veteran filmmaker Raj Kapoor, will be held across the country in December to commemorate his birth centenary.

Ranbir was in conversation with filmmaker Rahul Rawail at the 55th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) organized to honor Raj Kapoor ahead of his 100th birth anniversary on December 14.

The National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC), National Film Archives of India (NFAI), and Film Heritage Foundation (FHF) and his uncle Kunal Kapoor have started restoring 10 films of Raj Kapoor, the actor said.

“We are going to organize a Raj Kapoor Film Festival across India from December 13 to December 15. We will be showing restored versions of 10 Raj Kapoor films,” Ranbir told a packed auditorium at the Academy of Arts here.

“I hope you guys also come (to watch the film festival). I remember when I met Alia for the first time, she asked me ‘Who is Kishore Kumar?’ It’s just a circle of life, people have been forgotten, it’s important that we remember our roots.”

The actor, who has often spoken about his dream of making a biopic on his late grandfather, said he has discussed the possible project with his “godfather” and filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali.

“I talk to many people including Sanjay Leela Bhansali about how to make a biopic on Mr. Raj Kapoor. A biopic is not just something that highlights the success in a person’s life, you really have to tell someone’s life honestly. Have to portray, the ups and downs, the conflicts, the dynamics of the relationship.

He said, “It’s a very difficult biopic to make. I don’t know if my family would agree to most of the things, to show this side of Raj Kapoor. But I think it will make a really great film.”

Ranbir is also excited to reunite with Bhansali in Love & War. The director gave him his first break as an actor in 2007 in Saawariya.

He said, “I am excited to work with Mr. Bhansali again. It feels the same even after 17 years. I respect him a lot, he has not changed at all. He only thinks about his films. “

The actor revealed that the first song he played to his two-year-old daughter Raha was Raj Kapoor’s ‘Kisi Ki Muskuraton Pe Ho Nisar’ from 1959’s Anari.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)