Arjun Bijlani says his reunion with Ranbir Kapoor on TV show was 'spontaneous: 'I was so overwhelmed’

Arjun Bijlani said in a new interview that Ranbir Kapoor’s revelation on the show about them being childhood friends was ‘spontaneous’. He said the way Ranbir shared their story was ‘genuine’ and ‘emotional’.

Ranbir Kapoor is busy promoting his film Shamshera, which releases on July 22. The actor recently made an appearance on Ravivaar With Star Parivaar, where he revealed the show’s anchor Arjun Bijlani was his friend in school. In a new interview, Arjun called their reunion ‘genuine, nice and very heart-warming’. The actor said he was so ‘overwhelmed’ after Ranbir spoke about their friendship on the show that he ‘just went and hugged him’.

Ranbir Kapoor with his childhood friend Arjun Bijlani on the set of Ravivaar With Star Parivaar.

While appearing with co-star Vaani Kapoor on Star Plus' special show Ravivaar With Star Parivaar, Ranbir spoke about Arjun and said, " Log jaante nahi hain yeh magar hum ek dusre ko bachpan se jaante hain (People don't know that we know each other from childhood). We were in the same school, the same class and the same house for football. It feels so great to see everything that you are doing. The fact that you are a father, and you are such a good host. It's really heart-warming to see a colleague of mine, a friend of mine do so well."

Speaking about Ranbir and his reunion on the show, Arjun Bijlani told Etimes in an interview that he had not told the show’s production house about his friendship with Ranbir, as he wanted to keep things professional. He praised Ranbir and said, "It was really special. Firstly, I admire Ranbir Kapoor for the work he does, more than anything else and apart from the fact that we were in school together, played football and were childhood friends. I adore that as an actor, he is amazing. I felt at that time he’s coming on the show to promote his film and though I am his childhood friend, we don’t need to show that. I felt there was no need to show off those things, he is coming on the show and I need to do my job as a host. Obviously, offscreen we were talking about different things. Neither, I told my production house to plan a moment between Ranbir and me.”

Arjun further shared that Ranbir’s revelation on the show was ‘spontaneous’. He said the way Ranbir shared their story was ‘genuine’ and ‘emotional’. He added that the best way to cherish their special moment forever was for him to go to Ranbir and give him a hug.

"I didn’t know whether he was comfortable or not at that point. It was very spontaneous and I never brought it up, I was just doing my job and was saying something. Suddenly, he stopped me and said it on his own. The way he said it was so genuine, nice and very heartwarming. I was so overwhelmed that I just went and hugged him, because I did not have words to express my feelings. I felt the best way to cherish that moment forever was to just go and hug him after what all he had mentioned. There was nothing else to say beyond that point. Now, I have a memory to say with my childhood friend. He is doing so well in his life and is a big superstar. It was a great feeling and everyone on the sets got emotional. It was really special," Arjun said.

Ranbir and Arjun both did their schooling from Mumbai's Bombay Scottish School. Ranbir made his acting debut with Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 2007 film Saawariya, while Arjun made his acting debut with Balaji Telefilms' TV show Kartika in 2004. He is known for his roles in Meri Aashqui Tumse Hi, Naagin and Ishq Mein Marjawan, among others.