It’s been 15 years Ranbir Kapoor first appeared on screen in his 2007 debut Sawaariya. While Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film didn’t find many admirers, Kapoor made everyone turn their heads to take a closer look as he danced to Jab Se Tere Naina in a white towel. His easygoing on-screen presence and chocolate boy image were his greatest strengths, making Kapoor a definitive mark as a leading hero in mainstream Hindi film industry. Now, 15 years and 30 roles later, Kapoor stands tall as the standout actor of his generation. (Read also: Ranbir Kapoor’s Top Five Movies)
In 2022 alone, he saw him in two major releases, both of which received a very contrasting response. The fate of these two films can also be seen as a reminder of how Kapoor continues to make a clear mark as a protagonist. In Karan Malhotra’s Shamshera, Ranbir Kapoor marked his return to the big screen after four years. It was also his first role in a historical action film in which he played a double role. Made on a massive Baahubali scale, Shamshera was laced with all the elements of a mass entertainer – a major villain, a progressive caste angle, and a revenge story at its core. Still, the half-baked story wasn’t imaginative enough to hold anyone’s attention and Shamshera failed to find any admirers and was bombed at the box office.
His next release was undeniably the biggest of his career, Ayan Mukherji’s Brahmāstra: Part 1. As the first episode of the Astraverse, the reception of this film was important not only for Kapoor, but also for the Hindi film industry, which was going through a rough time. . rough spot. Brahmastra opened to a great opening on Day 1 of its release, bringing in over 37 crores, contributing to a lifetime collection of approximately 400 crores worldwide. In Brahmāstra, Kapoor’s role was not far removed from his earlier roles: a poor man who lives in a chawl, takes care of orphans and works as a DJ. He plays the same carefree kind of men who are uneducated and need an intervention to make him realize his potential.
Think Wake Up Sid (2009), his first collaboration with Ayan Mukherji, where he played a lazy, carefree teenager who hates studying and anything that forces him to act like an adult. Or Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013), for which he reunited with Mukherji and played an adult version of Sid as Bunny, a commitment-phobic drifter who only looked after his interests. Both Sid and Bunny are spoiled yet made to look endearing, and what these man-children need is an Aisha or a Naina to get them back on track. Kapoor excels in these roles, bringing a lot of warmth and poise to these quirky, emotionally distant men.
In a Sid or a Bunny, Kapoor immediately evokes a relativity in his viewers, where he fails again and again and rarely consciously thinks about his actions. There is always a relativity in his projection of contemporary masculinity, which carries itself carelessly around the world. Always ready for his friends, never for his own needs. This is a far cry from the image of the ‘angry young man’ of the Bollywood hero who has been given a motivation to take revenge. Kapoor possesses the image of the boy who has yet to become a man, whose idea of life consists in water-colored hues.
To say that Kapoor has created a safe space within this image is not true. Unlike his contemporaries, he took risks, albeit with mixed results. In Raajneeti (2010), where he collaborated with Prakash Jha, he played Samar Pratap’, a deceitful and cold-blooded successor to further expand his family’s political position. This is the most Kapoor has come to play an outsider in his own clan, a negative character with a shaky moral compass, and he does so with quiet grandeur. In Shimit Amin’s Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year (2009), Kapoor played Harpreet Singh Bedi, someone who is a complete misfit in his mundaneness. Here, Kapoor doesn’t even exercise his starkid status for a moment, as a character who wants to break free from business building to start his own business. Though it was a commercial failure, Kapoor’s performance and audacity to take on a role so far removed from the reach of a Hindi film actor so early in his career is remarkable. His notable associations with Anurag Basu and Imtiaz Ali also did not go smoothly. For a great Rockstar (2011) there is a flawed Tamasha (2015). For a lively Barfi! (2012) there is a crushing failure in Jagga Jasoos (2017).
It’s interesting to note how Ranbir Kapoor has stayed away from all forms of social media at a time when his contemporary actors are tapping on the same bandwagon. Although Alia Bhatt revealed in Koffee with Karan that the actor does indeed have a social media account, he’s keeping it a secret. This also means that Kapoor wants to keep his point of contact with his audience strict with his performances and film-related promotions. He’s long been seen as an extension of his on-screen commitment-phobic characters, with his off-screen relationships with actresses Deepika Padukone and Katrina Kaif getting a lot of media attention, but Kapoor hasn’t bothered to even change this perception. but for once to crush. By not taking to social media in a predominantly digital age of consumerism, the actor has been able to maintain a surprise factor for his on-screen appearances alone.
Kapoor has always been a convincing actor, someone who is not afraid to take risks with his roles. Even after 15 years as an actor, Kapoor has created an astonishing array for himself in the mainstream Hindi film industry, an actor who can both effectively surprise and entertain. Despite the freedoms that shape the fate of his films, he has emerged as a standout actor of his generation.
