Ranbir Kapoor has had an eventful 2022 — he got married to the love of his life, actor Alia Bhatt, had a daughter Raha, and saw two of his long-awaited films Shamshera and Brahmastra: Part One – Siva finally hitting the marquee. Currently, Ranbir is excited about his new movie, Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar (TJMM), which releases today. It’s a genre, rom-com, that Ranbir knows best and has delivered some of the greatest hits of his career. With Ranbir going back to his romantic avatar, The Free Press Journal caught up with him to speak about the movie, romance, and more. Excerpts:
You resonate with pain in romance on screen. Is there a method or it comes naturally to you?
I remember, when I was doing Saawariya with Sanjay Leela Bhansali, he told me that I have sad eyes. Even if I don’t do any movement in front of the camera and sit with a dead face, I would look sad. I guess, it is also because of my eye bone structure or droopy eyes, perhaps. I guess crying comes naturally to me since I don’t have a laugh, so laughing on screen is difficult for me.
You did several rom-coms during the initial years of your career but you suddenly stopped after a point. Did you choose to do TJMM to fill that void?
Somewhere I felt I was getting typecast so I decided to take a break from that genre but similar scripts kept coming to me in huge numbers. I was quietly retired in my mind from this genre but when I met Luv (Ranjan) for a gangster action film, he narrated to me the idea of TJMM. Instinctively, I felt this was something new and I haven’t done anything like this before.
Can you elaborate on your character in the film?
I play a guy named Vicky, which I haven’t played ever before on screen. In fact, Vicky is the only character who I like to be. There is a certain value system that Vicky stands for. I found Vicky such a nice human being that I felt very impressed by him. Luv has a great hold of the genre. I know people might be thinking that his characters are so contemporary and urban but TJMM is an entirely family film. It is told in an interesting manner.
If a film works, actors do get credit but if not then a lot of actors put the setback on directors. How much do you take the onus of your failures?
Frankly, if actors do get credit for their success, they better take the onus of the failures. It’s a fair game. To do a project or not is a personal choice. In the end, if the film is good, everything is good. When I was shooting for Bombay Velvet, I thought I gave my best performance but the film was a disaster (laughs).
Your film Tamasha was re-released during Valentine’s week this year. Any of your favourite film you want to be re-released?
I feel Rocket Singh but I also strongly believe that any film finds its audience. Films have their own destiny. Kaagaz Ke Phool and Mera Naam Joker were disasters but they both attained cult status. Today, at least we have the liberty and understanding to make a film either for an OTT platform or a big screen. Audiences are always correct. Rocket Singh didn’t work so there should have been some issue with the film back then.
You redefine love on the screen each time you come. How invested are you in love in real life?
I love love (laughs). I don’t believe in cliché romance, like candlelight dinner and conversations and all, rather I love spending time with family. I take help from Luv if I have to send a special message to Alia since he is a great writer. Just a day before my marriage, I had to message something nice to Alia so Luv helped me compose it in my hotel room.
