Ranbir Kapoor has certainly made his mark in the Hindi film Industry and he is only a couple of films old. He has several high profile projects lined up including Rajkumar Santoshi’s Ajab Prem Ki Gazab Kahani and Prakash Jha’s Rajniti opposite Katrina Kaif, the Karan Johar produced Wake Up Sid with Konkona Sen Sharma and Shimit Amin’s Rocket Singh Salesman of the Year for the Yash Raj Banner. The young actor is on his way to be one of THE stars of the Hindi Film Industry but for now he says, “Please don’t call me a star.” Ranbir recently was the guest editor for the Hindustani Times and he wrote a piece about being called a star, who he feels are “superstars” and many other filmi things. Here are some highlights from that article.
About being called a star Ranbir wrote, “Please don’t call me a star. I think the term is used too loosely these days. I can call myself a star only when I have a couple of bonafide hits under my belt. I am, at best, a potential star. Just to be ‘appreciated’ in a couple of movies does not make me a star.”
He feels there are only at the most five “superstars” in the Hindi Film Industry, “The three Khans, Akshay Kumar and Hrithik Roshan. (If you’re wondering – Mr. Amitabh Bachchan, with whom I’ve had the honour of working as an assistant director on Black, is in his own league, beyond all such labels).”
Ranbir says that these labels and the over exposure of actors and actresses in the industry are one of the reasons that after as little as ten years the “shelf life” of actors is used up and it is even less for actresses.
Another label he does not like is struggler and thinks that ‘aspiring’ has a much more positive connotation. “Here, I’d like to add another label I’m very uncomfortable with: ‘struggler’. It sounds almost as outdated as ‘handicapped’ to me, and it’s misleading too. For instance, people may not think of me as a ‘struggler’ because I come from an affluent background. But that does not mean I haven’t put in my share of hard work. I’ve done a film course in New York; I slogged as an assistant director to Mr. Sanjay Leela Bhansali on Black. I did my homework; I prepared as hard as anyone else. I think the word we should use is ‘aspiring’. Aspiring actor, director, technician, whatever. That’s what we all are when we set out.”
Adding, “All aspirants bring a great energy to their work. I love their passion, the way they love every word of their scripts.”
He reveals that Bollywood is getting younger and younger and that on the set of Wake Up Sid most of the people were twenty somethings. “The average age on the sets of Wake Up Sid, a movie I’ve just completed, was around 20. The director himself, Ayaan Mukherjee, is 25. But just because they’re young doesn’t mean these new entrants are unprepared. They have a deep interest in cinema, they’ve done their homework and they come fully equipped to become directors by the time they’re 22. Some manage to do exactly that.”
For Ranbir the most important thing is that films should be made from the heart and that that is one of the fundamentals of good film making: “One of which is that you have to make movies from the heart. It can’t be for the love of money, but for a purpose; you have to have something to say. Put simply, all you should do is set out to make a good film.”
Ranbir closed with that for him it is all about the journey, “Because for me, the result is not the destination, the journey is. All I want to do is enjoy”
Fans will be waiting and watching and supporting Ranbir on this journey and cannot wait to see his performances in all the films to come! Be sure and keep a bookmark for BollySpice.com because we will bring you all the Ranbir current news, as well as tidbits on his films!
