Ranveer Singh: A force of nature

Ranveer Singh: A force of nature

"He is not everyone's cup of tea," Arjun Kapoor tells Forbes India on the phone about Ranveer Singh, a close friend and co-actor in Gunday. "Some people get tired of his energy," points out Kapoor who is amongst those who enjoy Singh's energiser bunny persona. But, he emphasises, Singh is also an actor who raises the bar higher for himself with every project he takes on. "He has no insecurity. His performance and ethics are never questioned," he says.

Similar conversations with his co-stars, directors and family, as well a four-and-a-half hour interview with arguably Hindi film industry's most energetic and exuberant denizen confirmed the dichotomy that makes Ranveer Singh intriguing, exciting, impressive, even bewildering, but never dull: A playful, light-hearted actor with no pause button on the one hand, and an intense actor who lives the characters he portrays on the other. "He is very submissive to a role or to the tone of a performance. He adapts to a zone very well and surprises his audience," says Maneesh Sharma, who directed Singh's debut film Band Baaja Baaraat (BBB). "He always had the spark"he is now qualifying it with every film he works in." Sharma remembers Singh as an unassuming guy on the sets, who would always carry a pen and a diary taking down notes. "He is very structured. He has a timetable for everything... including socialising. It is in his system to have a process."

It is this commitment to his craft that has propelled the actor, who started his career with the hugely successful BBB in December 2010, into the ranks of Bollywood's most-sought after actors. And with two hits in 2014"Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Goliyon Ki Raasleela: Ram-Leela and Yash Raj Films' Gunday"and association with top-notch brands, his rise has become even more noteworthy. This is also reflected in his climb in the 2014 Forbes India Celebrity 100 list, from 66 in 2013 to 37.

But no matter how mainstream his success is, don't even try typecasting Singh. He has left no room for that. With each film, he has, almost compulsively, donned a new avatar: A fun-loving, smart-mouthed collegian in BBB, a serial flirt in Ladies vs Ricky Bahl, a reticent and brooding thief in Lootera, a power-packed, rustic Gujarati version of Romeo in ...Ram-Leela, a goon in Gunday and a killer in Kill/Dil. "I like to change things, shake them up, I like to play high stakes," says Singh. But he doesn't pick roles just because they are risky. He takes on what appeals to him, "and they just happen to be risky".

And risks are what have defined Singh's movie journey so far. For his latest film Bajirao Mastani, Singh has shaved the hair off his head. Apart from the vanity factor, this means forgoing endorsements and live shows, a major source of income for actors, for at least 12 months. "I like to do things that scare the s@#$ out of me. If it is too straight, it bores me," he shrugs.

But Singh has always relied on his instincts, despite the downside involved. Though born and brought up in Mumbai, and with friends in the film industry, he still had to struggle for nearly three years before he got his first break. However, he didn't allow the disappointments to quell his ambition. For instance, while his portfolio was doing the rounds of various production houses, Singh turned down at least three films without any certainty of getting the kind of role he wanted. "I could have missed the bus. Chances [of getting the right role] were one in a million," he says.

Similarly, his advertising campaign for Durex, the condom brand, is another instance of him jumping in where his colleagues might fear to tread. Few top actors have associated themselves with contraceptive ads; unlike, say, a car or a fashion label, this category won't enhance anyone's endorsement value. Singh admits that he knew the ad had an uncertain outcome: It could either earn him accolades or have tags such as sleazy' thrown at him. But he still had his team contact Durex and confirm his participation. He reasons that people can't afford to beat around the bush on a topic like sex, which has both personal and social implications.