For an outsider to break into Bollywood is no easy feat as millions try when only a dozen succeed, which makes Ranveer Singh’s unprecedented success remarkable on many levels. Setting foot in Film City, Mumbai, the directors and filmmakers were unsure if the energetic 24-year-old had “it”.

Casting director Shanoo Sharma at Yash Raj Studios, one of the largest filmmaking enterprises in Mumbai, saw something in Singh after countless auditions and proposed him to play the lead for the Hindi film Band Baaja Baaraat (released internationally as Wedding Planners) in 2010. After several screen tests, another film producer, Karan Johar, told the makers they had lost the plot in opting for a lead who looked so … average.

Kismet, or fate, and raw talent proved Johar wrong as the movie was a smash hit and the critics loved his natural screen presence. Years later, on Johar’s own talk-show Koffee with Karan, the producer apologised for not seeing what made the lead so special.

Singh picked up his best debut Filmfare Award that following year and has a hat-trick of best actor awards including a villainous turn in Padmaavat (2018) and a struggling Hindi rapper in Gully Boy (2019), which was India’s official entry into the Oscars last year (although it wasn’t shortlisted for best foreign language film).

Nosing through his roots

The Sindhi actor was born Ranveer Singh Bhavnani to Anju Bhavnani and Jagjit Singh. He abbreviated his triple name early on, stating to The Times of India, “It’s too long, too many syllables”. Singh says with a wink, “My Sindhi nose lets everyone know where I’m proudly from.”

Rumours have circulated that Singh’s father co-produced or financed his first film which catapulted the actor’s career, but Singh has denied it repeatedly for the past decade. Yash Raj Films, producers of his first movie, have also stated Singh’s family had nothing to do with him landing the role and they were unaware of the remote genetic link between him and any other celebrity in India. He lined up for auditions like every other struggling actor in the nation of 1.35 billion who try to make it big in Bollywood.

He kept his relationship hush-hush

Ranveer Singh’s relationship with Deepika Padukone, the queen bee of Bollywood, was kept a secret. They had a hushed wedding in Lake Como, Italy, with only their immediate families and shocked the world when they posted wedding photos on their social media accounts. They held two wedding functions, a South Indian style wedding for the Padukone family and a North Indian style for the Singhs.

Funnily enough, the two were star-crossed lovers in each and every film they did together prior to their nuptials. They met during the making of the film Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela (2013), an Indianised version of Romeo and Juliet. The follow up was a brief cameo in the comedy Finding Fanny (2014), where yet again Singh’s character has an ill-fated turn on their wedding day. In their last venture together, Padmaavat (2018), not only did the stars not meet on screen, she dies before he gets to see her.

In their fourth film forthcoming this year, titled 83, they play husband and wife from the get-go, blissfully married on and off screen.

A quirky fashion icon?

Despite all his achievements, Singh is notorious for his off-screen red carpet antics. He went all out with his sartorial experiments which included top-hat, shades, pyjama bottoms, bunny slippers and Moschino. With his cheeky poses and vaudeville humour, he may not be in fashion, but he’s always in style.

Movie on pause

Covid-19 did a number on Bollywood as Ranveer’s highly anticipated film 83, based on the Cricket World Cup remains ready to screen – but without a theatre open. The completed film is on hold as the nation waits with bated breath.

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