New Delhi Hopes are high from newly-married Ranveer Singh, who is set to woo quintessential Bollywood fans with “Simmba” later this month. After eight years of entertaining audiences, the actor says he does not feel any pressure to deliver his best as he sees it as a responsibility towards what he loves doing — acting.

Ranveer has a filmography boasting of titles like like “Band Baaja Baaraat”, “Ladies Vs Ricky Bahl”, “Lootera”, “Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela”, “Bajirao Mastani”, “Dil Dhadakne Do” and “Padmaavat”.

Asked if he feels pressure with so many hopes riding on him, Ranveer told IANS in an e-mail interaction from Mumbai: “I have been fortunate enough to experience both highs and lows. (I have been) Lucky and blessed that there have been more highs than lows, but I’m glad that the lows were there because they taught me a lot.”

The actor, who faced failure with films like “Befikre” and “Kill Dil”, says it taught him that filmmaking is a collaborative process.

“According to me, whether it’s my most successful film or least successful film — I know in my heart of hearts that I tried my best, I performed with all honesty and never gave less than a 100 per cent. If a film did not work, that is not in my hands. From my point of view, my perspective, I gave it everything.

“For a film to become a hit or a flop, there are many variables and many factors. That said, I don’t get pressurised. I see it as a responsibility to what I love doing,” he said.

Ranveer, who tied the knot with his long-time lady love Deepika Padukone in November, says he feels responsible when filmmakers come to him for collaborations.

“When filmmakers collaborate with me, I only assume that they expect me to bring something to the table creatively and I like that. I appreciate that the finest filmmakers look upon me as a collaborator. It’s something to be proud of and so I feel responsible,” said Ranveer, who has worked under the direction of Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Zoya Akhtar, Aditya Chopra and Vikramaditya Motwane.

As a performer, Ranveer said his effort is always to make people associated with him proud.

“I want to make my fans, family, my team everybody who is directly or indirectly connected to me, my life, my career — proud. So, I feel responsible in that way. So yes, I don’t feel pressurised, but I definitely do feel responsible,” he added.

Ranveer, who has been feted with the “entertainer of the year” award by a magazine, has a bag full of films coming up. His next his “Simmba”, where he is playing a flamboyant police officer. Then there’s “Gully Boy”, “’83” and a period drama “Takht”.

The actor’s last Bollywood outing was Bhansali’s “Padmaavat”, in which he essayed the role of Alauddin Khilji. Ranveer upped his own game with his powerful acting and eccentric mannerisms in the film, and captivated cine-goers with his stand-out performance, which set the bar higher for Bollywood villains.

Would he like to play an anti-hero again?

“Khilji’s part was mentally and emotionally taxing for me. I don’t think I’m keen on going into the dark space again anytime soon. That said, I want to keep doing different things. I will explore new characters that have a fresh set of layers to play. I never say never, but probably not anytime soon,” he said.

Ranveer was in fact advised by many people to not play Khilji.

“The rationale behind that was pretty convincing. They rationalised saying how audiences are very emotional, they even draw lines between actors and stars. If they love a character, they will shower the love on who played the character and if they hate the character, that hate will come upon the actor.”

But the 33-year-old star saw it differently.

“I trusted the audience, I trusted their maturity and the fact that they have evolved over time that they can see the performance for what it is. I felt that if I do this part well, they will appreciate me as an actor. I’m glad I trusted the audience and my trust in them paid off. It was a huge risk, but I’m never one to play it safe. So I’m glad I took the risk,” he said.

(IANS)

 Rajinikanth-starrer “Kaala” had a socio-political message on the plight of Dalits, but here’s another “Kaala” — a short film by Tarun Jain — which aims to highlight the issue of racism in India, especially against Africans.

“My film ‘Kaala’ is my response to the troubled nights and anger which pushed me every day to tell this story. It is a socio-political film about the uncompromising issue of racism in India. Between 2016 and 2017, reports on brutal assaults on the Africans in parts of Delhi and its close by areas was covered by almost all media houses. The incidents shook me to the core,” Jain told IANS of the reason he chose the subject for a film.

“Delhi is my home and I have fond memories attached to it, but this city failed to offer equivalent memories to people from other inhabitants. It became a city filled with gory reminders of murders, deaths, brutal attacks, abuses and so on. With over a decade of experience in filmmaking, I decided to use my ability and not remain a silent watcher. Racism is enormously rooted in our society and ignorance will not take us further, but it will stop us from advancing,” he added in an email interview.

Why title it “Kaala”?

“Kaala is a derogatory statement which we attempt to change. It’s more of a word which is used to define someone in disparaging terms. In our film, there is a dialogue, ‘Oye Kaluwe, kaha jaa raha hai?’. Kaala is not just restricted to skin colour, but it also reminds you that you that you are inferior. Rajinikanth’s ‘Kaala’ is also a socio-political film with a strong message.

“We too hope that our short film brings about an urgent change, more so now than ever before,” added Jain, who is rasing Rs 500,000 for the film’s post-production, via crowdfunding platform Wishberry.

India, the 33-year-old filmmaker said, has failed to consider racism a pressing issue.

“As a society, we failed miserably at accommodating a safe and respectful place for people of other communities, despite Indians facing invasive situations in other parts of the world. Our film questions ‘why we are doing the same things for which we have been battling the western world for generations?’

“How is skin colour enough to judge a person? How our opinion changes when we see a black as compared to a white? Why can’t we treat a human as human? Man as a man and a woman as a woman? My ‘Kaala’ is about the disturbing elements of how a society can abandon you for something as trivial as the colour of your skin. It takes you to an uncomfortable yet compelling space which makes you contemplate on your choices in life.”

The larger message, he said, is to help people reconnect to the most powerful human emotion, love.

“Kaala” features a non-actor of African descent as its main character.

Jain said their research for the movie mainly included meetings and interactions with people from the African community.

“During eight months of research, we met people from the embassies, students from different schools, universities, professionals and mainly indulged in conversations after conversations. Sometimes, it also led to heated arguments and ended up in a few fights as well. During those meetings, our intention was to meet African residents and know their experiences and their expectations.

“We also met a few victims and families of those who lost their lives. Our research also comprised reading a lot on incidents between 2016 and 2017, interacting with journalists who covered the attacks in the past, Indian government’s reactions and implementations after the attacks, and their outcomes,” said the Delhi-based filmmaker.

IANS

The Uttarakhand High Court on Thursday refused to stay the release of forthcoming Bollywood film “Kedarnath”, starring debutante Sara Ali Khan along with Sushant Singh Rajput.

Swami Darshan Bharti of Garhwal had demanded that the film should be banned. The High Court said Bharti should go to the District Magistrate of Rudraprayag with his complaint.

A single bench of Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan was told the film should be banned as it was hurt people who were affected by the 2013 flash floods rhat ravaged Kedarnath besides hurting Hindu sentiments.

The petitioner pleaded that the film promoted “love jihad” — a word coined by right-wing Hindu groups, to denote marriages between Muslim boys and Hindu girls.

Keeping in view the objections, the state government had formed a committee headed by Tourism Minister Satpal Maharaj and comprising Home Secretary Nitesh Kumar Jha, Director General of Police Anit Ratoori and Tourism Secretary Dilip Jawalkar.

The committee has been asked to go through all aspects and submit a detailed report to the state government, after which a final decision on the film’s release in Uttarakhand would be taken, an official told IANS.

The film is slated for nationwide release on Friday.