Director Apoorva Lakhia recently opened up about his relationship with RRR star Ram Charan. The two had previously collaborated on the film Zanjeer in 2013, which marked Ram’s Bollywood debut alongside Priyanka Chopra.
Despite the underwhelming performance of Zanjeer at the box office, Apoorva shared in a recent interview that it had no impact on his friendship with Ram. However, he did reveal that Ram has a habit of not answering his phone calls.
“Ram Charan is a dear friend of mine. In fact, despite the ackluster response to Zanjeer, I have visited him several times at his house in Hyderabad and stayed with him. But nowadays, he doesn’t pick up my calls. I’m not sure, maybe he has changed his phone number… His wife, Upasana, responds, but he doesn’t,” Apoorva disclosed during an interaction with Siddharth Kannan.
When asked if he had messaged Ram during the filming of RRR, Apoorva shared, “He called me from Ukraine and asked what I was up to. I told him I didn’t have any major commitments. He then said, ‘I need to shoot a few action sequences with the second unit, can you come and assist?’ I replied, ‘Yes, I’ll get back to you.’ But then he called again and asked, ‘Can you?’ Unfortunately, I was occupied with another project and couldn’t go. I think that was the last time we spoke. He randomly calls me, but he never answers my calls.”
Apoorva acknowledged that he understands Ram Charan’s busy schedule and appreciates that his wife takes care of their communication. He also mentioned that Ram meets him whenever he visits Hyderabad, although it has been a while since the director last traveled to the city.
With a career spanning over two decades, Apoorva Lakhia started his journey in the film industry as an assistant director to Ashutosh Gowariker on the film Lagaan. He has since directed movies like Shootout at Lokhandwala, Dus Kahaniyaan, Mission Istaanbul, and Haseena Parkar.