Anurag Basu yelled at me, I wanted to quit; Ranbir Kapoor switched puchkas and made them spicier with every take: Ileana D’Cruz recalls as Barfi turns 13

Ileana D’ Cruz also recalled a memorable prank played by Ranbir during a scene where their characters eat phuchkas. “Dada (Anurag Basu) kept insisting I put the entire phuchka in my mouth at once. It was chaotic, and I kept asking the vendor to make it sweet, but somehow it was only getting spicier. Later, I found out Ranbir had been switching them all along. That’s Ranbir for you.”

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But not everything on set was lighthearted. Ileana shared how she once had a heated argument with Anurag Basu. The actress “One morning I came in really happy and greeted him, but he was in a bad mood and lashed out at me. I was so offended that I told him if he thought I wasn’t right for the part, I would leave. I even called Vidya’s husband Sid [producer of the film], ready to quit.”

She continued, “Later, Dada came back. He was the only one who called me ‘Ilu’—I never allow anyone else to call me that. He told me I’d just walked in at the wrong time and asked me not to take him seriously. We laughed it off and hugged.”

Despite the ups and downs, Barfi! turned out to be a landmark film. Made on a modest budget of Rs 30 crore, it went on to earn over Rs 175 crore worldwide and was selected as India’s official entry to the Oscars in the Best Foreign Language Film category.

Ranbir Kapoor, who played the mute and deaf Barfi, once admitted he was initially frustrated with the role. “A Hindi film hero wants to have dialogues or songs, but I had none. Still, it was a fun experience. Anurag Basu wanted my character to connect with the audience through emotions alone.”

He also praised Anurag Basu’s unique style, saying, “Anurag is such a jovial, happy person, and I feel a director’s personality reflects in the film. When you watch Barfi!, you’ll see a lot of him in it.”