‘MY BEST WORK IS YET TO COME’
Ranveer Singh didn’t have a release last year but he seems to be making up for his absence with backtoback films in 2018
My first responsibility is towards people whose lives are directly connected with mine — my family, friends, team and fans, who contribute to my life in a direct way. RANVEER SINGH, ACTOR
Throughout 2017, he was busy shooting for Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmavati but Ranveer Singh didn’t have a release last year. However, he isn’t losing sleep. “If you ask me, ‘Did you dream of all of this when you imagined becoming an actor?’ I would say, ‘I had imagined certain things but it has reached a level which is beyond my wildest imaginations’,” says the actor, who has a packed 2018, thanks to films with Zoya Akhtar, Kabir Khan, Rohit Shetty and, of course, Padmavati.
This year, your lineup looks solid.
I am very excited. I keep saying this to myself and always manifest it as well that my best work — and my best time — is yet to come. Thankfully, with God’s grace, everything that I manifest and attract comes to me, so, I believe deeply in the law of attraction. Whatever you manifest and what you really wish for from the bottom of your heart, you will get it if you work hard enough. So, here I am, in 2018, coming up with diverse roles and collaborating with different film-makers.
And your New Year is set to start with Padmavati…
Yes, I already have a movie up for release which I am sure will be very exciting — for the Hindi as well as global filmgoing audience. It’s a sort of once in a lifetime magnum opus. In January itself, I start Gully Boy for which I collaborate with Zoya, who is very dear and special in my life as a collaborator, person as well as a director. Also, it’s my first collaboration on a full-length feature film with Alia [Bhatt], who I rate very high as an actor. She is certainly among the best actors in today’s day-and-age. I believe she is on her way towards greatness.
Going by your love for the ’90s masala films and your energetic avatar, you must be looking forward to teaming up with Rohit?
True, but I am very nervous too because it is not easy to perform in mainstream films and it’s not easy to make one either. It could be called my biggest solo outing. It is my first ‘in and as’ film. I have admired Rohit sir’s work for a very long time now. We also have Karan Johar as the producer in this film. It’s a genre or brand of cinema that I thoroughly llove. . Of course, socially, I interact with people who are the ‘multiplex audience’, but my heart is ‘massy’ and that’s actually what I get a huge kick out of. My aim is to make the best Rohit Shetty film, with whatever I can contribute from my end as the leading man. I want to make Simmba his best film. I feel we should make such a highvoltage mainstream film that it should become the benchmark for performances in mainstream zone. I am extremely blessed and thankful that I got this incredible opportunity.
Also, you are going to play Kapil Dev in ’83. Is it a special film?
The Th story of ’83 is ncredible. Wherever I go, eople talk [to me] about apil Dev. They keep elling me that they can’t wait to see the film. It’s nly now, after having een committed to the roject for a few months, hat I’ve actually nderstood n the magnitude of the ncident — the 1983 world cup win. It was a uge u moment for all the ndians as a country, specially in terms of ur sporting history.
Are you happy that all of it willi happen in 2018?
I don’t actually stop to think, but now that I am talking about all my films, I am realising what a massive year it is going to be. I usually move so fast that I don’t stop to think. t Now that I am on a holiday, I will have some time to think, and reflect on things. But I think I am entering a phase where I have got a lot to give and I intend to do a lot more. I will also be taking bigger risks. I don’t know what
have h done to deserve it. I guess I have just been honest with my work and good to people, and I have my mother’s blessings.
Since your debut with Band Baaja Baaraat (BBB; 2010), do you think you are living through your richest phase?
Yes, creatively, it is a very rich period, since the prospects are very exciting. But anyway, I don’t get fettered by the lows. Since BBB happened suddenly, I became a public figure quickly. I did not know how to handle the limelight then. I was confused but when Lootera got immense critical acclaim followed by Ram Leela that became a breakthrough hit, I started realising that it is not about the success or failure of the film. I started to mature and evolve to believe that the process itself is the prize. And I still believe in it.
Be it trade or audiences, they expect a lot from your films. Do you ever feel pressurised?
I would not term it as ‘pressure’ as it has a negative connotation. I look at it as responsibility. And my first responsibility is towards people whose lives are directly connected with mine — my family, friends, team and fans, who contribute to my life in a direct way. I am answerable to them as well.