Madhureeta Mukherjee (BOMBAY TIMES; December 7, 2015)
He is a rollercoaster of emotion. Laughing with abandon, talking with animation, shocking you with high-spirited shenanigans and stunning you with high-strung characters on screen. You can still see the hangover of his forthcoming magnum opus Bajirao Mastani. In this heart-toheart, Ranveer drops his armour and bares all -about his aiyaashi, love, loyalty and extremities. He even breaks into tears, using up his emotional artillery -yet, he soldiers on, brave and undisguised. Read on...
What's your 'high' - Success? Scoring? Spirits? How do you explain your inexhaustible energy?
My work gives me the ultimate high. Sometime ago, I met my screen idol Akshay Kumar at a party, he gave me a big hug and asked, 'Ek baat bata...tu itna khush kaise rehta hai?' I told him it's the same reason why he's always so happy. We both do what we love doing. I wanted to be an actor all my life - I did it. This is my biggest high, every hit film is a bonus. I have grown as an artiste and as a person, and I know I didn't half-ass anything. About spirits I drink rarely. But when I drink, I drink really hard and get really high. When I party, I party hard and I have to be carried out of the place. It takes me a few days to get over the hangover.
And women?
I enjoy female attention. I've always had a fat complex, because I was fat till the age of 14. Once a fat kid, always a fat kid. So when I started getting female attention during the puppy romance age, I obviously enjoyed it. I always thought that 'women throwing themselves at you' was a figure of speech, until it actually happened to me. I have experienced them physically jump on me, it is embarrassing! I guess that's because I am an actor and it's just their love and adulation.
Sometime ago, you had said that Deepika and you make a 'hot' pair, while Ranbir and she were simply 'cute' together. After seeing their chemistry in a recent release, would you still say that?
(Laughs out loud!) No, it doesn't change my view. Deepika and I still make a hotter pair. Well, she and Ranbir do films where their chemistry is cute and friendly. In my films with Deepika, the chemistry is sensuous and intense.
While talking about her relationship with Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika said the term 'love' gets misconstrued. Do you agree?
Leaving aside the fact that it's spoken by a celebrity and misconstrued by media entities, love as a concept is misconstrued. For generations, artists and writers have tried to capture its meaning and essence. I believe no one can do it and people should stop trying to, including me. I am only a part of love stories. Love is divine. There is no real, widely accepted articulation of the concept of love.
So how would you describe your relationship with Deepika?
(After a long pause) I wish I could find the words for it, but I really can't.
Is it because you might say too much, or too little?
It's hard for me to articulate the feeling. It's an inexplicable divine connection. Let's put it that way.
Would you kill for love? How far would you go?
Yes, 200%! I am passionate, I love strongly, get attached easily and express freely. I am an 'all in' kind of guy. It's all or nothing for me. I am very extreme, which goes for all my choices. If I am switched on, I am all there.
You are a loyalist too?
I am a die-hard loyalist. For me, few things like loyalty and principles constitute one's entire being.
There is a dialogue in the film, Bajirao ne Mastani se mohab bat ki hai, aiyaashi nahin. I am guessing you've enjoyed a fair share of both?
For me, it starts off with aiyaashi, and somewhere along the way it grows into mohabbat (laughs). Like I said, everything for me is extreme. If I have made a decision to do aiyaashi, I will do that. If I have made a call to go beyond that...then that's it.
You went into semi-isolation to prepare for Bajirao Mastani. Did it take time to come out of that zone?
I didn't want people to see a trace of Ranveer in the character - it had to be Bajirao. Like Muhammad Ali says, 'All the work happens before you step into the ring.' I had locked myself up in a hotel room, where I would walk around wearing a dhoti or angarakha. My first prep process for a role is to get the look right. I would read and watch documentaries on warrior films. You won't find me watching a comedy film while gearing up for a role like this. It is upto an actor how far you want to go away from yourself and into a character. I am still in the Bajirao zone, I need a vacation to come out of it.
We heard you started every day of the shoot by giving Bhansali a big peck on the cheek?
Oh, yes. And he always reacted with a groaning sound. This is my second film with him, so he understands my process and I get his. Sometimes, I still get rattled because Bhansali wants spontaneity. Five minutes before roll time he would give me dialogues, which I had to deliver in a Marathi accent, with a different emotion in every line. I felt pressurised, but I think brilliance is born out of spontaneity. He's also very collaborative. He says, 'Bring your interpretation...I will work with your instinct.' With Bhansali, you have to be totally switched on at all times. You need all cylinders fired. Even the lows in your life are in extremes.
Tell us about that phase...
My life after the accident on the set of Bajirao Mastani was a dark phase for me. I underwent a shoulder surgery and I was shattered. A lot of my self-confidence and happiness comes from my physical well-being. If I am fit, I am happy. If I am sexy, I am happy. When the accident happened I was at my fittest best; my body was like a killing machine. I don't know why I'm so accident prone. Once the camera rolls I don't care much about safety. Bhansali says, 'Tu khula ghoomta hai. You go head on into everything. You are susceptible to nazar.' During those two months, there was a lot of angst in me. I needed pep talk and books on self-help to come out of it.
In the film, you have two beau tiful wives - Kashibai and Mastani. Have you ever thought of marriage in real life?
I have realised that family is the most important thing. I want to have a family and raise my own kids. But I am not ready for marriage yet, as I need to sort a few things out. Personally, I need to work on a few aspects; like taking a keen interest in finances and running the household. I also need to work on some aspects of myself before I take the plunge.
In the past, you have said that you are not too wise. Have the last five years in the industry changed that?
I hit the ground running. I had to learn fast and it has been a constant battle to keep my life simple and normal. My circle is small, my needs are simple. I am a fakir; I don't need much to be happy. I have never understood why people ask me how I stay grounded. I see through all the adulation that comes with being a celebrity. In my family nobody was famous before I became an actor. I had a straight-forward, upper middle class upbringing. I have two-three close friends who have been with me since the beginning. They knew me when I was fat, ugly and broke. (Takes a pause long, his eyes swell up with tears and he continues...) They have seen me through my failures, and they take me as I am - good or bad. I try to protect my parents from the public eye. I don't want people to recognise my family. This circle is my small world that reminds me who I am and where I have come from.
What's your 'high' - Success? Scoring? Spirits? How do you explain your inexhaustible energy?
My work gives me the ultimate high. Sometime ago, I met my screen idol Akshay Kumar at a party, he gave me a big hug and asked, 'Ek baat bata...tu itna khush kaise rehta hai?' I told him it's the same reason why he's always so happy. We both do what we love doing. I wanted to be an actor all my life - I did it. This is my biggest high, every hit film is a bonus. I have grown as an artiste and as a person, and I know I didn't half-ass anything. About spirits I drink rarely. But when I drink, I drink really hard and get really high. When I party, I party hard and I have to be carried out of the place. It takes me a few days to get over the hangover.
And women?
I enjoy female attention. I've always had a fat complex, because I was fat till the age of 14. Once a fat kid, always a fat kid. So when I started getting female attention during the puppy romance age, I obviously enjoyed it. I always thought that 'women throwing themselves at you' was a figure of speech, until it actually happened to me. I have experienced them physically jump on me, it is embarrassing! I guess that's because I am an actor and it's just their love and adulation.
Sometime ago, you had said that Deepika and you make a 'hot' pair, while Ranbir and she were simply 'cute' together. After seeing their chemistry in a recent release, would you still say that?
(Laughs out loud!) No, it doesn't change my view. Deepika and I still make a hotter pair. Well, she and Ranbir do films where their chemistry is cute and friendly. In my films with Deepika, the chemistry is sensuous and intense.
While talking about her relationship with Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika said the term 'love' gets misconstrued. Do you agree?
Leaving aside the fact that it's spoken by a celebrity and misconstrued by media entities, love as a concept is misconstrued. For generations, artists and writers have tried to capture its meaning and essence. I believe no one can do it and people should stop trying to, including me. I am only a part of love stories. Love is divine. There is no real, widely accepted articulation of the concept of love.
So how would you describe your relationship with Deepika?
(After a long pause) I wish I could find the words for it, but I really can't.
Is it because you might say too much, or too little?
It's hard for me to articulate the feeling. It's an inexplicable divine connection. Let's put it that way.
Would you kill for love? How far would you go?
Yes, 200%! I am passionate, I love strongly, get attached easily and express freely. I am an 'all in' kind of guy. It's all or nothing for me. I am very extreme, which goes for all my choices. If I am switched on, I am all there.
You are a loyalist too?
I am a die-hard loyalist. For me, few things like loyalty and principles constitute one's entire being.
There is a dialogue in the film, Bajirao ne Mastani se mohab bat ki hai, aiyaashi nahin. I am guessing you've enjoyed a fair share of both?
For me, it starts off with aiyaashi, and somewhere along the way it grows into mohabbat (laughs). Like I said, everything for me is extreme. If I have made a decision to do aiyaashi, I will do that. If I have made a call to go beyond that...then that's it.
You went into semi-isolation to prepare for Bajirao Mastani. Did it take time to come out of that zone?
I didn't want people to see a trace of Ranveer in the character - it had to be Bajirao. Like Muhammad Ali says, 'All the work happens before you step into the ring.' I had locked myself up in a hotel room, where I would walk around wearing a dhoti or angarakha. My first prep process for a role is to get the look right. I would read and watch documentaries on warrior films. You won't find me watching a comedy film while gearing up for a role like this. It is upto an actor how far you want to go away from yourself and into a character. I am still in the Bajirao zone, I need a vacation to come out of it.
We heard you started every day of the shoot by giving Bhansali a big peck on the cheek?
Oh, yes. And he always reacted with a groaning sound. This is my second film with him, so he understands my process and I get his. Sometimes, I still get rattled because Bhansali wants spontaneity. Five minutes before roll time he would give me dialogues, which I had to deliver in a Marathi accent, with a different emotion in every line. I felt pressurised, but I think brilliance is born out of spontaneity. He's also very collaborative. He says, 'Bring your interpretation...I will work with your instinct.' With Bhansali, you have to be totally switched on at all times. You need all cylinders fired. Even the lows in your life are in extremes.
Tell us about that phase...
My life after the accident on the set of Bajirao Mastani was a dark phase for me. I underwent a shoulder surgery and I was shattered. A lot of my self-confidence and happiness comes from my physical well-being. If I am fit, I am happy. If I am sexy, I am happy. When the accident happened I was at my fittest best; my body was like a killing machine. I don't know why I'm so accident prone. Once the camera rolls I don't care much about safety. Bhansali says, 'Tu khula ghoomta hai. You go head on into everything. You are susceptible to nazar.' During those two months, there was a lot of angst in me. I needed pep talk and books on self-help to come out of it.
In the film, you have two beau tiful wives - Kashibai and Mastani. Have you ever thought of marriage in real life?
I have realised that family is the most important thing. I want to have a family and raise my own kids. But I am not ready for marriage yet, as I need to sort a few things out. Personally, I need to work on a few aspects; like taking a keen interest in finances and running the household. I also need to work on some aspects of myself before I take the plunge.
In the past, you have said that you are not too wise. Have the last five years in the industry changed that?
I hit the ground running. I had to learn fast and it has been a constant battle to keep my life simple and normal. My circle is small, my needs are simple. I am a fakir; I don't need much to be happy. I have never understood why people ask me how I stay grounded. I see through all the adulation that comes with being a celebrity. In my family nobody was famous before I became an actor. I had a straight-forward, upper middle class upbringing. I have two-three close friends who have been with me since the beginning. They knew me when I was fat, ugly and broke. (Takes a pause long, his eyes swell up with tears and he continues...) They have seen me through my failures, and they take me as I am - good or bad. I try to protect my parents from the public eye. I don't want people to recognise my family. This circle is my small world that reminds me who I am and where I have come from.
