On choosing roles that seem to defy the stereotype: When he debuted, Ranbir Kapoor seemed to be another entrant cut out to do only sentimental romantic roles. But here he is, defying the image, doing films that have seen him play diverse roles that give us a peek into there the talented actor lying under those good looks. So, is his choice of roles his way to defy conventions? For Ranbir, its not anything that complicated. He says, “Frankly speaking, I have never planned anything. I am this rather average guy and am glad I have got to where I am today. In fact, my father thought I wouldn’t amount to much (smiles).
That said, I can’t take the whole credit for where I am today.I think I have been lucky and have been at the right time and right place, getting all the various roles I have got. And I am not trying to follow any path set by any superstar. I am really just following my own instincts (in choosing his roles) and I happen to be among the very few people who get to do what they love doing, so that is all there is to it.
It was all about improvising on the set: The little that one gleans from the Barfi!’s trailer suggests that the role required candid acting. So, was playing Murphy all about impromptu, improvisational acting all along? There is a truth to the observation because Ranbir says, “The character of Murphy didn’t have any dialogues. In fact, the script of the film would only have a description of the scene, for instance, ‘Murphy goes to restaurant’. What he’d do there, how he’d react was something that I had to work out, on the set. The entire movie evolved organically.”
By way of preparation for the role of a deaf-mute, and one that also required a lot of physical acting, Ranbir reveals that he took inspiration from “watching Charlie Chaplin and Mr Bean as I had to engage myself in the role through physical antics and physical comedy.”
Surprised by his own stuff: There sure must be moments in the film that have taken him by surprise, in terms of what he’s managed to pull off? “To be honest, I am surprised with the entire film,” Ranbir nonchalantly states adding, “I am not doing anything that a regular Hindi film hero does in the film and so there were no rules to be followed.” And if there is anything the film taught him, it was “the importance of simplicity.” Which is why, instead of really slugging it, RK (as his team prefers to address him) decided to “let the story do the talking.” Fair enough.
Busy as busy can be: In addition to the hefty promotions for Barfi! that he is so thoroughly and tirelessly involved in, Ranbir has quite a lot of movies that will keep him busy till the following year. Divulging more details, he says, “50% of Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani is complete. I then have Anurag Kashyap’s Bombay Velvet, the Kishore Kumar biopic that I will be doing with Anurag Bose and am also doing a (yet untitled) film with Imtiaz Ali.
Director’s favourite, yet? With a career graph that is only shooting up, Ranbir today is in that envious position where he is almost every hit director’s first and (sometimes) the ‘only’ choice. Have other directors approaching him with roles written only for him? “Yes, it happens from time to time and Barfi! is one such instance,” he avers with a casual smile. “It feels great when talented directors, like Imtiaz Ali and Anurag Basu come back wanting to to work with me again . It reiterates the fact that I am doing something right.” he concludes on a positive note.
