Ranbir Kapoor at 34: A legend in the making?

Ranbir Kapoor was all of 26 when he chose Shimit Amin's Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year. Shimit Amin was a man with tremendous critical acclaim for his first two films including Ab Tak Chhappan starring Nana Patekar and Chak De India starring probably Shah Rukh Khan's best performance as hockey coach Kabir Khan. Rocket Singh was a brave choice, especially for an actor whose roots were ingrained in the so-called first family of Bollywood. For an actor who first film was Saawariya. For someone who had grown up seeing uncles who were failed actors. It was ballsy. He played a Sardar protagonist, and the film even though in retrospect is appreciated for its deftness, no one really went to watch it in the theatres.

Ranbir Kapoor is the flag-bearer of the new generation star kid. There had been the Zayed Khans, the Fardeen Khans who couldn't quite capitalise on their father's reputation. What they didn't understand was their access to Bollywood was only going to get them started. From then on, it was their work that was going to speak for them. Ranbir Kapoor was a different species altogether, even as he rolled out interviews for his first film he appeared wise beyond his age. He had studied films in New York, he had seen TOO MANY films from around Indian and the world to know how they work. He talked about his love for Al Pacino, Quentin Tarantino as much as his grandfather Raj Kapoor, Guru Dutt, Bimal Roy.

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The actor had a certain honesty to him, and it didn't take long for Bollywood to capture it for the big screen as he played the charming slacker Siddarth in Ayan Mukerji's Wake Up Sid. The film established him as a lead actor, holding his own in front of an impeccable actor like Konkona Sen Sharma. Ranbir ran away with all the accolades for his performance as the titular character.

Ascension to a Superstar

Wake Up Sid was the spring-board for Ranbir as he went on to do a wide variety of movies, in some of which even surprised himself. He went on to do Rajkumar Santoshi's Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahaani, a senseless crime caper quite the brand of Rajkumar Santoshi's humour. The film was a superhit, and also the film (we later found out) where his relationship with Katrina Kaif began. That was followed by Prakash Jha's Rajneeti, a modern-day adaptation of the Hindu mythological text Mahabharat. Ranbir Kapoor played a character based on Arjun, the prodigal son of the Pandavas. Playing a scheming, manipulative character won Ranbir accolades as opposed to his nice characters which he had played till then.

The Golden Period

Ranbir Kapoor the superstar was yet to arrive. And he did it with three consecutive smashing performances, which won near-unanimous acclaim. Imtiaz Ali's Rockstar saw him a play a rooted, Haryanvi Jatt boy and his pursuit for the troubled life of a Rockstar. He played a deaf-mute charmer in Anurag Basu's Barfi. The film even though faced allegation of having been lifted from various films, couldn't deny acclaim for its lead actor. And then came Ayan Mukerji's Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, which saw Ranbir play a typical Karan Johar hero, and apart from essaying a believeable performance, he also danced his way into the audience's hearts. YJHD went on to gross close to Rs 200 crore, established Ranbir as the biggest star, in the same league with Khans. And he had reached after doing some interesting work.

The Decline

Every good story has its own share of unpredictability. And Ranbir was soon going to find out about the law of averages. He had two BIG failures in the way of Abhinav Kashyap's Besharam and Anurag Kashyap's Bombay Velvet. Roy, which was initially supposed to have him in a special appearence, went on to become an extended cameo and then became his film by the time of its release. Bombed. Imtiaz Ali's Tamasha even though got polarized reviews, everyone appreciated Ranbir's performance as the lead. The film didn't do well commercially, hence, making it his fourth film without major success.

Dark times ahead?

Ranbir is witnessing a slight discomfort in his career, feeling left out of the party. But he has some of the most interesting films lined up - with Karan Johar's Ae Dil Hai Mushkil which sees him romance an older Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Anurag Basu's much awaited Jagga Jasoos, Ayan Mukerji's Dragon and Raju Hirani's Sanjay Dutt biopic. He's working with the best directors. He's chosen a dignified silence on his personal life, which is speculated about a lot. Are we losing the star in Ranbir Kapoor? What happens if a majority of his upcoming films (which happen to be big in terms of commercial scale) lose money? We might just find Ranbir Kapoor - the actor. The tragedy might just about give birth to the legend of our generation. Ranbir himself knows he's a good actor, and the bitterness of failure might make him even better in the long run.