A decade in the world of movies

As Ranveer Singh reached the 10-year milestone in showbizz, the actor recalls the journey was never a cakewalk

Ranveer Singh is a phenomenon and the youngest bonafide superstar of the Hindi film industry. The first young star to register a 300-crore blockbuster Padmaavat to his credit, Ranveer has cemented his status as a supremely successful, self-made role model who in spite of being an outsider has etched his name in annals of Indian cinema.

On December 10, Ranveer marks a decade in movies as his runaway smash-hit debut Band Baaja Baarat celebrates its 10th anniversary. Looking back at Ranveer’s 10 years, it can be unanimously agreed that his sheer talent and brand of versatility has contributed in shaping the current landscape of Indian cinema.

Showcasing his brilliance as an actor in diverse range of genres and characters — the lovable rake Bittoo Sharma from Band Baaja Baarat, the intensely brooding thief with a golden heart in Lootera, the fiery Romeo who takes on the world in Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ram-Leela, the valiant and majestic Peshwa Bajirao in the magnum opus Bajirao Mastani, the eccentric and menacing evil king Alauddin Khilji in Padmaavat, Ranveer has set himself apart from everyone else with his matchless performances.

On the 10th year of his journey to superstardom, the ultimate showman of show business, Ranveer, opens up about his most memorable milestones, his dreams and aspirations, the rejections he faced for years before his explosive debut and the legacy that he wants to leave behind.Ask him which moments from these 10 years would he consider the biggest career milestone? “Well, the biggest milestone of them all actually is when I got selected for my first film, a moment that is simply unforgettable.

I get goosebumps when I think about it even now. For somebody from my kind of background to get such a big break was beyond my wildest imagination,” says Ranver adding that the period of struggle was not easy at all for him.

“There was a recession going on at that time, the movie business was not very prolific, people were making fewer films. Therefore, opportunities for actors were far less than for actors today. We didn’t have these web platforms, we didn’t have OTT platforms etc. So good opportunities were hard to come by.

For 3-3.5 years I was just groping in the dark, attempting various avenues, trying to get a break, trying to get a foot in the door, doing the rounds of various offices with my portfolio looking for work and not knowing whether it will ever happen at all. It was very far fetched for someone in my position to think that I’d get a premier opportunity as a performer to act as a lead in Hindi films.”