'You are mine.' Director Karan Malhotra sorry for abandoning 'Shamshera', says he couldn't handle post-release hate

Ranbir Kapoor will return on the silver screen after almost four years of going MIA. Directed by Karan Malhotra, the period drama action film, 'Shamshera', is produced by Aditya Chopra under Yash Raj Films and is all set to release on Friday (July 22, 2022).

The film stars Ranbir Kapoor in a dual role of father-son and Sanjay Dutt as the antagonist Daroga Shuddh Singh. 'Shamshera' also stars Vaani Kapoor, Ronit Roy, Saurabh Shukla and Ashutosh Rana.

The story revolves around a warrior tribe which is imprisoned in the fictitious city of Kaza where they are enslaved and tortured by a ruthless authoritarian Shudh Singh. Set in the 1800s, the story follows the tribe's fight for independence against British rule.

'Shamshera', which is one of the most expensive Hindi films ever made, was officially launched in May 2018 by YRF through a motion poster. A massive fort was also built at Film City located in Mumbai's Goregaon. It took two months of preparations and over 300 people to build the film's set. It took almost two years to finish the filming for 'Shamshera' which ended in September 2020.

Dutt plays a spine-chilling fearsome villain in 'Shamshera', but not many know that the actor was battling cancer while filming for the movie. During a recent interview, the film's director, Karan Malhotra revealed that when the news about Dutt's cancer diagnosis came out, the film's team was in utter shock as they had no idea. The film-maker revealed that the veteran actor was "talking, behaving and working as if nothing had happened". "I guess that’s why he is where he is today, having conquered this too. Sanjay sir doesn’t let anything get the better of him. He is an inspiration on the sets for everyone," the film-maker said.

Kapoor's return to the big screen after four years is much awaited. After all, the actor was last seen in Sanjay Dutt's biopic 'Sanju', which released in 2018. During the promotions of 'Shamshera', Kapoor opened up about what he did during his big break and why there were no films in between. The actor said that right after 'Sanju', he started working on two big budget films - 'Shamshera' and 'Brahmastra', which took most of his time and then his father, Rishi Kapoor fell ill, and all of this happened during the pandemic.

Film 'Shamshera' is all the more special for Kapoor because it gave the actor an opportunity to star with Sanjay Dutt, a star Kapoor has idolised since a young age. The 39-year-old's last film, which happens to be a biopic on Dutt, gave Kapoor the platform to play the role of his idol while 'Shamshera' allowed him to share screen space with him.

In between 'Sanju'- which happens to be Kapoor's highest-grosser till date - and 'Shamshera', Kapoor had a lot on his plate including romance and wedding. Kapoor left behind the bachelor life and tied the knot with his girlfriend Alia Bhatt in an intimate ceremony held on April 14th. The two are now expecting their first child together.

Apart from 'Shamshera', Kapoor has another big-money film lined up for release, 'Brahmāstra', directed by Ayan Mukerji which also stars Alia Bhatt. The sci-fi superhero film tells the story of a young man who meets a girl and starts falling in love but his life is turned upside down when he discovers he has the power to control fire and a link to those who guard the society from evil forces.