Heavy Mettle

Ranveer Singh’s ability to oscillate between contrasts — over-the-top yet nuanced, outrageous yet articulate, down-to-earth yet larger-than-life — gives him all the trappings of a new-age superstar.

- Shweta Mehta Sen

RANVEER SINGH WAS ONE OF THE FIRST ACTORS I EVER INTERVIEWED — AND I WAS AMONG THE FIRST JOURNALISTS TO INTERVIEW HIM. AS AN INTERN AT A TABLOID, I NEVER GOT TO INTERVIEW STARS, BUT AS A SENIOR EDITOR PUT IT WHILE DISPATCHING ME TO YASH RAJ STUDIOS FOR A ROUND OF GROUP INTERVIEWS FOR BAND BAAJA BAARAAT, “THAT GUY LOOKS HOPELESS. HE HAS NO FUTURE; I DON’T CARE WHAT YOU GET.”

He did look hopeless, so much so that co-star Anushka Sharma, sitting across the room, laughed at his plight. “Bechara; he has no idea what he’s gotten into,” she told us, while Singh fumbled his way through a barrage of questions.

Cut to 2016. I’m at a sprawling Goregaon apartment he’s bought just to cut travel time back home from shoots, and to ensure full focus on the intense characters he often gravitates towards. In the past three years, in his own words, Singh has come into his own. A string of hits qualifies him as one of the industry’s top talents, and his excitable personality sets him apart from his colleagues. He’s perennially in the news for his outlandish attire, a brand endorsement kitty that ranges from cars to condoms, for being politically incorrect and for setting relationship goals with one of Bollywood’s hottest actresses.