Anil Kapoor sat at Ranbir Kapoor’s feet like an attentive student when he kissed Robert de Niro’s knee. View photos

It’s not every day that you see the biggest names in Bollywood fawning over a celebrity and asking for autographs and selfies. However, such is Robert de Niro’s popularity and aura, who turns 79 on Wednesday, that even Bollywood’s biggest stars can’t help but be starstruck. This is exactly what happened in 2013 when the Hollywood actor visited India and met several actors and filmmakers from the Hindi film industry in Mumbai, with the majority falling head over heels for him.

Robert de Niro appeared in the 2013 film Silver Linings Playbook. Anupam Kher played a supporting role in the film starring Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence. Later that year, on Anupam’s invitation, Robert traveled to India and spent an evening at the latter’s Actor Prepares Studio in Mumbai. Several Bollywood celebrities, including Ranbir Kapoor, Varun Dhawan, Anil Kapoor, Aditya Roy Kapur, and Dia Mirza, met the legendary actor at this event.

Ranbir could be seen touching Robert’s feet and later kissing his knee in photos from the meeting. In one photo, Ranbir even sought Robert’s autograph, having him sign a copy of his film The Godfather Part II’s DVD. In another image, Anil Kapoor sat at Robert’s feet, discussing cinema. Several other celebrities, including Varun, Aditya, Dia, Ali Fazal, Aftab Shivdasani, Satish Kaushik, and filmmakers Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra and Ayan Mukerji, also shared photos of themselves with the Oscar winner. Amitabh Bachchan and Priyanka Chopra also met Robert de Niro during his India visit and documented their encounters on social media.

Robert de Niro is widely recognized as one of the best performers of all time. His first major role was in Greetings in 1968, but he rose to prominence with Mean Streets (1973) and The Godfather Part II. For the latter, he took home an Academy Award for best-supporting actor. He went on to star in several critically acclaimed films, including Taxi Driver, Once Upon a Time in America, Goodfellas, Heat, and Casino. He won the Academy Award for best actor for his performance in the 1980 sports drama Raging Bull.

He was most recently seen in the 2019 films Joker and The Irishman. He will next be seen in Killers of the Flower Moon, a film directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, John David Washington, Michael Shannon, Mike Myers, Timothy Olyphant, and Anya-Taylor Joy.

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