Mumbai: Bollywood’s quirkiest dressed star, Ranveer Singh, who turns 36 today, is an actor not only known for his unconventional sartorial choices but also for establishing himself as one of India’s most bankable stars, delivering a series of hits year after year.
His flamboyance, craziness and eccentric antics never fail to pull the audience’s attention, promising them a maverick surprise each time he hits the public gaze, on or off the screen.
Looking at Ranveer’s body of work, right from his debut in ‘Band Baaja Baaraat’ to his last theatrical release ‘Gully Boy’, it feels that the actor was tailor-made for the Bollywood industry. His energy levels and charisma are an absolutely perfect match for each of his silver screen performances.
It’s taken Ranveer Singh just over a decade to tick all the boxes and establish himself as an entertainment superstar and an admirer of grandiose fashion.
As the actor turns a year older on Tuesday, let’s revisit some of the diverse character portrayals that Ranveer has put in front of the viewers.
1. Band Baaja Baaraat (2010)
At a time when Bollywood did not look beyond star kids and big names, Ranveer came as a breath of fresh air. In 2010, the actor made his debut with ‘Band Baaja Baaraat’, marking the beginning of a new era.
In the movie helmed by Maneesh Sharma, Ranveer plays the role of Bittoo Sharma, a fun-loving youth who starts a wedding planning business with Shruti Kakkar (Anushka Sharma), an ambitious girl. Even though they promise to not mix business with love, they soon start to realise they have feelings for each other.
Ranveer’s portrayal of Bittoo is true-to-life, extremely realistic as well as fun to watch. He delivered a promising performance by remarkably essaying a young, college boy keen on discussing ‘binness’ plans with Anushka’s Shruti, delivering a tale of comedy-romance drama with admirable conviction.
2. Lootera (2013)
After his debut film in 2010, instead of choosing more light-hearted roles, Ranveer made some brave choices at the start of his career, taking everyone by a pleasant surprise.
In 2013 with Vikramaditya Motwane’s ‘Lootera’, Ranveer showed his range as an actor. The movie remains one of Ranveer’s most appreciated and yet underrated work to date.
Adapted from a story by O’Henry, the film hinges on a punchline and delivers the same through a well-crafted ending.
In the movie, Ranveer Singh plays the role of Varun Shrivastav, an archeologist, who goes to the village of Manikpur and wants to study the land around the temple which the zamindar owns. Varun impresses the zamindar with his knowledge and charms his daughter Pakhi (Sonakshi Sinha).
However, Varun leads a mysterious second life which ruins his relationship with Pakhi. Varun runs away only to be reunited with Pakhi years later under very different circumstances.
3. Padmaavat (2018)
With Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Padmaavat’, came the actor’s breakthrough performance, which definitely set new benchmarks. Some would argue that his Khilji act in the period drama goes down as one of the best performances in the history of Indian cinema.
The film, which also starred Shahid Kapoor and Deepika Padukone in the lead roles, released in January 2018.
In the movie, Ranveer brilliantly portrays Sultan Alauddin Khalji who is obsessed with capturing the famed beauty Queen Padmavati (Deepika) of Mewar. The only one standing in his way is her husband Maharawal Ratan Singh (Shahid).
Apart from ‘Padmaavat’, the actor has also collaborated with SLB on movies like ‘Goliyon ki Rasleela: Ram-Leela’ (2013) and ‘Bajirao Mastani’ (2015). Both the movies also starred Ranveer’s wife and actor Deepika Padukone. Somehow, Bhansali always manages to bring the best out of Ranveer.
4. Simmba (2018)
After portraying a powerful dark character in SLB’s ‘Padmaavat’, Ranveer Singh took up a completely different role with the action-comedy film ‘Simmba’, yet again proving his range as an actor.
Directed by Rohit Shetty, ‘Simmba’, which also starred Sara Ali Khan, follows Sangram “Simmba” Bhalerao (Ranveer), a corrupt police officer who works for Durva, a big drug smuggler. When Durva’s brothers rape and murder a girl close to Simmba, he decides to go on the path of righteousness to avenge her.
5. Gully Boy (2019)
Undoubtedly one of Ranveer’s best movies is the 2019 Zoya Akhtar-directorial ‘Gully Bolly’, which also starred Alia Bhatt and Siddhant Chaturvedi.
Ranveer has created his own niche in the film industry with his intense, varied as well as fun acting performances.
‘Gully Boy’ was a critical and commercial success. The movie was also appreciated at the Berlin Film Festival where it had its world premiere.
In the movie, Ranveer plays Murad, a 22-year-old boy, living in the slums of Dharavi, Mumbai. Murad’s parents want him to become well educated and get a good job but Murad has dreams of becoming a rapper.
When Murad meets MC Sher (Siddhant), he takes on the alias ‘Gully Boy’ and starts to realise his dream and fight to live it. The movie is inspired by the real-life success stories of Dharavi rappers Naezy, Divine and others.
The story beautifully showcases the inspiring journey of Ranveer’s character into his struggle to make it big as a rapper. His pairing with Alia also works out in favour of the film.
The star also raps his way into our hearts with his brilliant rapping skills perfectly showcased in songs like ‘Apna Time Aayega’, ‘Mere Gully Mein’ and ‘Asli Hip Hop’.
These were just a few films that made us fall in love with Ranveer Singh, who has numerous awards under his belt and will surely gain quite a few more in his career.
The actor has also appeared in several other movies including ‘Ladies vs. Ricky Bahl’, ‘Gunday’, ‘Dil Dhadakne Do’, and ‘Befikre’, among others.
Ranveer Singh will soon be making his TV debut as a host with the quiz show ‘The Big Picture’.
Meanwhile, fans can’t wait to watch him on the big screen as he has a lineup of some very exciting projects including ’83’, ‘Sooryavanshi’, ‘Jayeshbhai Jordaar’, ‘Cirkus’, Hindi remake of blockbuster hit ‘Anniyan’ and the recently announced ‘Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahaani’.