B-town’s latest heart-throb Ranveer Singh connects with Bangalore for reasons different than most. “I am drawn to this city because of music. Most established international artistes perform in Bangalore. I last visited the city for Aerosmith’s concert in 2007,” he says.
He’s definitely missed out on bands that followed, but has also has been missing from film screens for a while. A year and seven months to be exact. Now promoting Lootera, Ranveer realises he has much lost time to make up for. “Somethings are not in our control. Shooting for this film was a tough task because of heavy snow fall that we faced in Dalhousie. We waited for the snow to recede but even then we could not shoot. Then, I suffered an injury for which I was on bed for three months. All these and a few more incidents added to the film being delayed. But all this will be inconsequential since Lootera will be distinctive from all I have done so far,” he says.
The challenge of doing the ‘different’ is what attracted Ranveer to the role of Varun. “My character has a very true to life, restrained quality to him. The intensity of the character tested my acting abilities. Vikram is a great director and working with Sonakshi is a delight.”
With competition rising among younger actors in the industry, Ranveer realises that niche films are what will mark him above the rest. “Like everybody, I too look for something substantial to work with. In fact, I am quite selfish about roles I want to do, you could call it being overly committed. There is a stage in one’s career where the more you push yourself with different roles, the better you get as an actor. I am there right now,” he says.
On Ranbir Kapoor, who is often touted as his arch competitor, Ranveer says, “Ranbir has been part of films that have commercial value and yet aren’t entirely mainstream. These films have been appreciated by the audiences. I would like to be in that position some day.”
Lootera is a once in a life time opportunity: Sonakshi
Sonakshi Sinha is being hailed as the princess of the 100-crore club since most of her releases cross the grand benchmark in box-office collections. Will that magic work with Lootera? The film is based on a short story by O Henry, The Last Leaf. “The minute Vikram (director Vikramaditya Motwane) narrated the script, it had me excited. Lootera is a once in a life time opportunity. I felt as if this role was written for me,” she says.
Playing Pakhi, a demure Bengali girl in the 1950s, Sonakshi takes on essaying the simple Indian woman yet again. Though most would say young Bollywood actress need to show off a more glamourous side to themselves, Sonakshi is unruffled about being typecast, if at all. “Why shouldn’t I do roles which people like to see me in. Audiences have accepted me in a certain way and I too suit such characters. I should start worrying when the film offers start drying up, which is not the case yet,” she says. There’s no doubting that, since Sonakshi has Once Upon a Time in Mumbai Dobara, Bullet Raja, Rambo Rajkumar and a Telugu film Shivam, opposite Mahesh Babu, lined up for release.
Despite spending so much time on film sets, Sonakshi’s take on friendships in the industry is still quite professional. “I maintain a very professional and cordial relation with my colleagues. My closest friends are not from the industry but those that I have from my school and college days,” says Sonakshi.