Kunal Kapoor is set to play Indra Dev in Nitesh Tiwari’s two-part Ramayana, but his most talked-about post this week had nothing to do with a shoot, a teaser or a release date. On Thursday, the actor used X to discuss what he called “our fear of failure” — and why he believes it is one of the biggest things holding India back.
The note was not aimed at a person or a project. It was a reflection on how failure is treated in everyday Indian life. Kapoor wrote that people are taught to fear failure from childhood, that students are pushed to breaking point because an exam feels like the end of the world, and that adults often stay in marriages and jobs they know are not working because leaving feels like failing.
The root of the fear
Kapoor did not frame this as a simple weakness. He said it is, to be fair to us, a generational issue born of scarcity. Too many people chasing too few opportunities made survival the priority, and when survival comes first, taking risks can feel like a luxury.
That matters for his conclusion: he argued India does not need only more ambition; it needs to become a country where failure is not treated as a permanent life sentence. The change, he suggested, may start small — in how people react to children or those around them when they fail.
Why it lands now
The comments arrive while Kapoor is attached to one of Hindi cinema’s biggest upcoming releases. Ramayana is being mounted on a scale the actor has already called unprecedented for Indian film. In an earlier interview with News18, he described it as an important part of India’s cultural history and ethos, one that needs filmmakers and teams who can give it the scale it demands.
- Director: Nitesh Tiwari.
- Lead cast: Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Ram, Sai Pallavi as Sita, Yash as Ravana.
- Ensemble: Lara Dutta, Sunny Deol, Ravi Dubey, Sheeba Chaddha and Arun Govil.
- Release: Part 1 on Diwali 2026; Part 2 in 2027.
Kapoor’s post also stayed true to how he uses X. He regularly shares thoughts on the films he watches and the events around him, and often replies to users. When a fan wrote “Spoken like a true king, Lord Indra,” he acknowledged it with folded hands.
What readers can take from it
The note is a personal view, but its practical point is small and immediate. The way people respond when someone close to them fails can either deepen the shame Kapoor describes or make failure feel survivable. That, he argued, is where a larger change begins.
For Ramayana viewers, the timing also adds a layer of interest: an actor playing a deity is talking openly about fear, consequence and recovery — themes the epic itself has carried for generations.
Source: Hindustan Times