Ranbir Kapoor is Raymond Man of Bollywood

Bollywood is on its way to moulding its next superstar now that the Khans have become vintage. With Shah Rukh, Salman and Amir Khan having hopped out of the college time textbook romance boys, the pedestal had been lying empty for a long time.

While a whole lot of boys, both from star families and otherwise (Prateik Babbar and Ranvir Singh to name a few) have been trying their luck on the silver screen, but only to moderate success, Ranbir Kapoor’s Rockstar performance has undoubtedly given him a quantum leap into actual stardom — something that has leapfrogged him from being merely regarded as the silver spoon actor of a starry bloodline.

In fact, if one were to look at Ranbir’s amazing career trajectory in Bollywood, one would say two things: He is either plain lucky or is fiercely talented. Seeing him perform in Rajneeti, as Rocket Singh and now Rockstar, I would safely go for the latter option.

It is Ranbir’s cache of diverse histrionics that has scripted his amazing rise to the top. Amazing because most of the films he has done till now have either tanked at the box office or have done average business. The paradox has been tantalising for Ranbir really. His debut film Saawariyawas his biggest failure. But he got for himself, in that one towel dropping moment, a recognition that went far beyond Bhansali’s doomed baby. While the director was left defending his film, Ranbir got for himself the Best Male Debut Filmfare Award for 2007.

As the salesman Rocket Singh, Ranbir showed off his repertoire and rose from the ashes of the film which sank commercially. But again, Ranbir bagged not just eyeballs for being regarded as a star kid with talent but also another award, this time the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor. Till now, Ranbir may have only three clean hits out of the 11 films he has done since his 2007 debut, but he has bagged four Filmfare Awards and no less than three Filmfare Best Actor nominations! That’s no mean achievement and his grandfather Raj Kapoor, the eternal showman, would have seen this in that light were he alive.

Sceptics would say, Ranbir may be good but he is where he is today with a huge pot of circumstances. First, he is of course from the Kapoor family which gave him a definite edge. His looks and height come in only as advantages. Then, he has had a good run with directors. Bhansali was a big platform to kick off from, the contribution to Ranbir’s career from the likes of Imtiaz Ali who, as director, brought out the best in him cannot be disregarded.

In fact, Ranbir has walked into Bollywood at a time that suits them both — the industry which needs a new superstar and a youngster who has everything going for him. Ranbir has been candid enough to admit in earlier interviews that luck by chance has aided and abetted his talent to a large extent.

Really, the Indian film industry has been in an elongated stage of transition these last few years — From Yash Chopra to Imtiaz Ali, from Aditya Chopra and Karan Johar to people like Zoya Akhtar, from Prakash Jha to Vishal Bhardwaj, issues have been changing as has the directing talent.

Imtiaz, the latest toast of tinsel town, is the product of the modern generation and brings with him a very non-frills but entirely engaging way of directing movies. And with these men, new actors like Ranbir have made a killing. If it was Shahid Kapoor who turned in as a man to be noticed inJab We Met under the expert guidance and refreshing approach to romance of Imtiaz, Abhay Deol flowered with his oh-so-clean image scripted by rookie director Rajshree Ojha in Aisha.

Coming back to Ranbir, with Rockstar he is set to emerge as that big one in Bollywood that can comfortably climb the dizzying heights that the Khans have touched. The competition, one must say, is rather slim, what with Deol enjoying his niche performances and happy to emerge as the poster boy of alternate roles with a box office tweak to them. Ranbir’s acting skills, seen in almost all his movies — be it fluffy romances like Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani or Bachna Ae Haseeno, or his courage to play callow, wet behind-the-ear youth like in Wake Up Sid and even as an undergrown Punjabi munda in bits and pieces of Rockstar — he has shown a rare gravitas for enactment, something that has been missing from his compatriots who have either botoxed their bodies to perfection in a bid to be Adonis or have perfected their dance skills to pull a crafty veneer on their thin acting skills. Ranbir on the other hand is a complete package, you could call him the Raymond Man of Bollywood.

 Source: The  Sunday Pioneer, 13 November 2011