Nayandeep Rakshit (DNA; May 11, 2018)

Ranveer Singh, who has received critical acclaim for his portrayal of Alauddin Khilji in Padmaavat, has had a meteoric rise at the box office over the years. While 2018 started on a great note for him, he is expected to end the year in style, with Rohit Shetty’s Simmba, which arrives in theatres on December 28. Ranveer tells us, “Simmba is home territory for me! I feel I can just be myself in it. Front foot, mainstream and an entertainer full of masala elements, this is more me.”

SIMMBA AND GULLY BOY ARE POLES APART
He quickly adds that the world of Simmba is extremely different from that of Zoya Akhtar’s Gully Boy, which releases on Valentine’s Day next year. The young turk reasons, “Rapping is not my comfort zone at all. Gully Boy does show my skills as a rapper, but it’s quite challenging to perform for Zoya. It’s not my default mode — I am a theatre actor. So for me, my gallery is important. Zoya has a cinema-oriented vision and she requires you to be much more internal as opposed to me reaching out to the audience and drawing them to what you are feeling. So, I don’t find myself on home territory with her.”

DON’T BE JUDGMENTAL ABOUT MASALA MOVIES
Rohit is known for masala films. Though they are huge money-spinners at the box office, they are often labelled as OTT. Quiz Ranveer if that upsets him and he says candidly, “People judge those films as lesser art. But, I don’t believe that. It’s easier to helm a movie that appeals to a niche audience, who are obviously going to love it. But how do you make one for a broad spectrum of people — where bachche, budhe and family audiences watch it together and enjoy? That, for me, takes as much doing. People are quick to jump to conclusions about these films. It takes the right amount of hard work to do an entertainer like Simmba.” He continues, “The ultimate goal is to do a movie, which has credibility and also appeals to the masses. But I’m a big propagator of mainstream masala films. I’ve grown up on them and I love that space. It’s in my blood,” adding that he ‘enjoyed watching Govinda’s films since his childhood’. “We should just look at cinema as a medium of entertainment and not make all these classifications,” he signs off.