How Ranveer Singh Beat His Way To The Top Of Bollywood's Crop

Beneath Ranveer’s over-the-top persona brims extraordinary talent and grit. Will the star of the decade be Bollywood’s all-time great?

- Giridhar Jha in Mumbai

“Yeh ladka sabke chhakke chhuda dega, sabki band bajaa dega (this boy will vanquish all his rivals).” It was four years ago that a veteran trade expert disclosed his feelings to this writer. That’s approximately the time when the Wikipedia page on him demarcates his “debut and break-through” phase (2010-15) from his “established actor” phase. Leaving aside three cameos, he had eight films in all at that point. Typically small films that went on to get noticed for the quirky, malleable presence of this rangy and handsome Sindhi boy with a sense for the acting moment. A real presence, unlike the usual wooden furniture.

One big film behind him. And the second was just out. But the old-time watcher was convinced. “Yaad rakhiye, yeh lambi race ka ghoda hai (Mind you, he will go far). He is already giving star sons a run for their money…and this is when he is yet far from reaching his peak.”

As Ranveer Singh takes his remarkable journey into a new decade, those words appear to have turned prophetic. The 34-year-old Mumbaikar looms large over public consciousness. And he carries himself with an unmistakable swag worthy of the first bonafide superstar from the Tenties—a transformative decade when it was no longer enough to do the old thing. It was a time when new-age actors were turning all tropes of Hindi cinema on their head. A yearning for better content, better acting was everywhere. And Ranveer Singh was no pop exception on Main Street: he melded right into the heart of that zeitgeist.