New Delhi: When Ranveer Singh walked on to the stage, more like danced to the tune of Khalibali from his movie Padmaavat, the audience couldn’t stop cheering. The “bundle of energy" that Ranveer’s fans and even not his fans keep talking about was on full display. His first demand was, “Let’s increase the volume".
At the Rising India Summit, Rajeev Masand pointed out that Ranveer is on the list of ‘superstars’ with actors way more experienced than him— Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan. While that is unusual for Bollywood, it seems the actor is himself surprised at his success. “I need to often pinch myself. I wake up every day and think that I am living a dream," he said.
In Ranveer’s words, he always wanted to be a ‘hero’. But it was a phone call that changed his life and led him to the path of stardom. When Shanoo Sharma of Yash Raj Films called him to say they were looking for a new face after Ranbir Kapoor rejected the movie ‘Band Bajaa Baarat’, Ranveer knew his calling.
“Aditya Chopra told me I can’t put you on a poster and sell you. You have to act really well. You are not conventionally good looking, which means you are damn fugly," Ranveer said to a packed audience who had all turned into shutterbugs at that point. Sure, they didn’t think he is ‘fugly’.
Like every celebrity, Ranveer was seeking validation. “There was a notion in my head that I want people to like me," he said. This wanting to be liked by all continued till 2013 till Lootera released. “That movie gave me the critical validation I was looking for," he said.
So, who really is Ranveer Singh? On screen he can be aggressive like Khilji, but off screen he can entertain and dress up the way he wants to— even if that means wearing a skirt. And he doesn’t shy away from being an entertainer, ever. “I take it upon myself to spread joy happiness, I love large crowd. I get excited when someone gets excited to see me," he said.
The actor said that even Priyanka Chopra has a joke for him. She tells me, “Tu wo ladka hai jo har bar ghar jakey bolega dekho maa main star bangaya, (You are that guy who will go home and tell your mother every day, ‘Look Maa, I am star)."
Is it the disbelief of getting success so early on that makes him want to continue to be a performer even when he is not performing? Well, whatever the reason might be, one thing is for sure— there’s no other actor as honest as Ranveer.
He doesn’t mind talking about the time when he was filmed by a ‘fan’ while he was stark naked, or to admit that he often thought of giving up the role of Khilji and even ended up calling his mother at 1am to say “I can’t do it", or that he is “hot headed" and had to be physically held back when he saw the visuals of Sanjay Leela Bhansali getting beaten up on the sets on Padmaavat. He doesn’t mind talking about his weaknesses.
When he spoke about the protests and the attacks on the sets of Padmaavat, he didn’t mince his words. “Those were disturbing moments for me. I value the sanctity of the set. It’s my place of worship. The equipment are someone’s source of food," he said. However, when asked if he was okay with how the government handled the controversy, he said, “I don’t want to rake up issues that’s already transpired. I have moved on," he said. After a pause, he cracks a joke again, “To another film".
When someone from the audience asked him if people will take him seriously despite all his ‘buffoonery’, Ranveer didn’t lose his cool for once. You would think any other actor of his stature probably would. But that’s not him. He, in fact, went on to explain how he has been ahead of the curve way long back. He cracked yet another joke. “I was pulling the style envelope even when I was in Class 4," to thunderous applause and laughter.
It didn’t end there. The following question from the audience too were pointed at his ‘dressing sense’, his antics, and if it’s all for a show. Ranveer must have heard this question over a hundred times. And yet again, he responded— with the same antics and the same patience.
Like all Ranveer ‘shows’ this too ended with a dance as the audience climbed on to the stage to shake a leg with him. And amidst all of this, a mother sitting across me held her 6-year-old daughter’s hand and tried to pull her to reach up to the actor. The child refused, held on to a chair, but the mother overpowered her and managed to get to the stairs of the stage. She came back, disappointed. “The guards didn’t allow me to take a photo with him," she told the person sitting next to her.
As Ranveer walked out, with bodyguards trying to keep the crowd away, the music kept playing loudly. The crowd kept following hoping to get a selfie. He turned into a superstar, again.
Comments
0 comment