Bollywood’s “HERO” and star actor Ranveer Singh is known for many things like his humour, wit, and style. But more importantly, its Ranveer’s acting chops and his crafts that has been winning hearts right from Band Baja Baraat to Padmaavat. Recently, he spoke to two of the leading Bollywood film critics Anupama Chopra and Rajeev Masand for their online podcast. Amongst the many things that he spoke about, Ranveer couldn’t stop gushing about his film experiences and his journey of becoming what he is today.
Ranveer credits his craze for acting to his grandmother.“I used to go to my dadi’s house and watch all the Hindi movies. Like the lesser celebrated Jadugar, Rakhwala, Toofan. The germ of acting actually came from her. She kept saying “Tujhe iske jaisa bann na hai.” Surprisingly, it wasn’t until Ranveer was nine-years-old when he had his first theatre experience. He went along with a "pretty girl", her brother and his sibling. This, he also refers to as his “technically, first movie date,” shared the actor and further added, “My excitement about being with her was gone when the film started.” But the cinephile in him had found magic on screen as he watched Main Khiladi Tu Anaari.
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Ranveer wasn’t from a film family and watching “Abhishek Bachchan, Tushar Kapoor, Zayed Khan being launched in the early 2000s'” made him believe that his dreams were "too far-fetched". “It dawned on me in 10th standard sabki bas ki baat nahi hai hero bann na. Then I thought to become a creative writer. But it was Amitabh Bachchan who brought me back.”
Wondering how? In the words of Ranveer, “I was in America, pursuing my four-year degree. And I thought I would then settle in Chicago get a copywriting job. But in the third year, all the classes were full because I was registering late. It just happened that one class I could fill in was ‘Acting One for Non-Major.’” While that sounds that like it was meant to do, the real story takes place inside the classroom when his professor asked him to get up and perform in the front of the diverse classroom without actually introducing themselves.
Ranveer said, “All I remembered was Deewar’s monologue.” After his emotional and heartfelt performance in a classroom full of non-Hindi speaking folks, Ranveer found himself being cheered and clapped for. “They were from different parts of the world but they could connect to me. I went back to my seat and thought… This is it! I remember feeling that rush and I thought this is it… This is what I want.”
After discussing with his supportive father, the actor made the most of his time. He mentioned, “I got a job at the video library for six hours a day which was at one corner of the university and no one would come there. So I watched movies all the times. That’s when I was introduced to big Hollywood films and world cinema.” After watching Taxi Driver, “I was never the same again.” But, it was Life Is beautiful that helped him get through the difficult and lonely days in a foreign country. “I was a changed person, I started taking care of my health, got involved with my surrounding, started communicating to people I cared for, started taking studies seriously.”
This true blue cinephile also drew inspiration and learned lessons in life just by watching the art that Indian Cinema’s Stalwarts Satyajit Ray and Guru Dutt brought to the table. However, Ranveer wishes to “catch up with Bimal Roy movies”. On a concluding note, when asked which was the film that he would recommend, without any second thought he suggested: “City of Gold for the cinematic brilliance and Life is Beautiful.”
