No Fear Kapoor

Ranbir Kapoor on the upcoming Jagga Jasoos, the Sanjay Dutt biopic, not being afraid of failure and his vow to quit smoking 

- Priyanka Bhadani

He isn’t tired yet, but soon may be. This is just the beginning leg of promo-tions for his upcoming movie, Jagga Jasoos, and the pressure of selling may soon take its toll. If he had his way, Ranbir Kapoor would have had one long chat with the many reporters waiting for him at a five-star hotel in Bandra, Mumbai. But, he knows everyone wants their exclusives and is only happy to oblige. He is calm, courteous and so soft-spoken that even the slightest noise would have drowned his voice. “I am an actor and it is the films I do that will do the talking,” says Ranbir, who is also co-producing Jagga Jasoos. “Promotions are just a way to make people aware that my film is releasing. But, if a film is good, there will be word of mouth [publicity]. If people enjoy it, others will come see it. I do not pay too much heed to marketing myself. I don’t need that. The less I am written about, the less I speak about myself, the better it works for me.”

Ranbir, 34, has avoided being typecast ever since his debut film, Saawariya, in 2007. He has always surprised his audience, be it as the singer pining for unrequited love in Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, the urbane, ambitious boy of Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani or the deaf and mute hero in Barfi!. In the long-delayed Jagga Jasoos, which releases on July 14, Ranbir is a detective who has a stammer. And, though the stammering part was tricky, he says it was the delay in release that tested his patience. “The difficult part in Jagga Jasoos was just the time it took. But, I think Anurag Basu as a director helps you so much with your performance, he almost builds it for you,” he says. “He makes your life easier; you just have to surrender to him and believe in him. And, you have to just give him the time he wants. He will do the work for you.”