Vijendra Bhardwaj
Tarun Vishwa
Whatever you think of Ranbir Kapoor, there’s little doubt that he’s the finest actor of his generation in Bollywood. This hasn’t always translated into box office success (Bombay Velvet, Jagga Jasoos), or memorable cinema (Bombay Velvet! Jagga Jasoos!). Ten years after his debut, and 14 films later, he’ll be the first to tell you, “I’m not as successful as I was a few years ago. Sometimes when you’re doing well, you just expect the sun to keep on shining on you, but it doesn’t.” He’s no longer the only leading man on the horizon either; his contemporaries have all cultivated brands around their personas that are far more palatable to a millennial audience. Meanwhile, Kapoor’s off all social media, and would prefer to focus on the next phase of this career, which he says will be about entertaining audiences rather than proving his acting chops. When I meet him on GQ India’s Wes Anderson-themed set, there’s a languid ease about the actor, an unhurried air that’s rare for a celebrity. Especially one who comes from Bollywood’s First Family. He’s present, and engaged, despite his promise to give me “the most boring answers for the next hour” because “I thought no one reads the text anyway.” Later, in his vanity van, decked out with film poster artwork – Drive, Melancholia, Black Swan, Four Rooms – Kapoor chats about why he’s married to the movies, and his semi-charmed life.
GQ: What’s exciting for you right now?
RK: My work. Sanju – the biopic on [actor] Sanjay Dutt – was a huge opportunity for me, working with Rajkumar Hirani and his team. Sometimes you get a part that’s juicy as fuck, and you also get to work with good people. That’s a luxury. I’m also shooting for Brahmastra with Ayan Mukerji, which should be out next year. The work I do really occupies my life. I like to take the character home with me, and submerge myself in it, and that’s about it. So I have lots of time on my hands. I’m easy, life is easy right now.
GQ: You sound content.
RK: I don’t want to feel content. I want to feel hungry. I’m going from one film to another now, always trying to unlearn what I know. I’d be happy to experiment with a Netflix or Amazon Prime Original if I was offered something interesting. You have a good eight, ten episodes to express your character and make your performance more succulent.
GQ: We’re a generation that thrives on constant stimulation. Does having a lot of time on your hands scare you?
RK: I guess being away from social media helps. Because I’m not on it, I’m not used to that [sense of] constant gratification. I’m okay not being spoken about or written about or applauded or criticised. When you have a bad phase and your films aren’t doing well, there’s a sense of insecurity. But this is something I’ve chosen right now. The trick is to feel secure, and have faith in myself as a person, as a talent, because that’s contagious.
GQ: Would you say you’re an introvert?
RK: I’ve always been an introvert. My mother used to wonder how I’d grow up to become an actor. I never spoke, I guess I had a confidence issue. When I act though, I can channel another self through a character. It gives me the licence to be shy in my personal life.
GQ: Has that been an advantage?
RK: More than any film school or acting school, it’s what life teaches you if you’re open to certain experiences – good or bad. I think that’s what gives you colour as an actor. Then you can express your emotions. If you haven’t really experienced something, or watched someone else go through something, or if you don’t have empathy towards the people around you, you can seem a bit dry and superficial. The experience could be anything – loneliness, sitting at home not having anything to do. It could be travelling, being in New York City. I’m nothing except all the women I’ve dated, the characters I’ve played, the books I’ve read.
GQ: You once said you’ve learned a lot about life from your directors, especially Imtiaz Ali and Ayan Mukerji.
RK: I think Imtiaz and I fell in love with each other when we worked on Rockstar; there was a deep connection. And Tamasha is my favourite film. We continue to feel a lot for each other, though when you don’t work with someone for a long period, a certain distance creeps in, because you’re consumed by someone else’s energy. Ayan, more than my director, is like a father. He’s taken the role of my stepfather, someone who nourishes the human being I am, while still being critical – of my behaviour, my work. That reality check is really important.
GQ: What was the last piece of good advice that he gave you?
RK: He keeps telling me to give more: to my work, to people, and that’s the path I’m on right now. To open myself up to relationships, to what other people expect of me instead of closing myself off and ignoring it.
GQ: What are the benefits of “isolating” yourself from society?
RK: Lots of things. How I see it is that I need to love myself, I need to be comfortable with myself, even if I’m just reading a book, or watching a really silly movie on Set Max, or playing football. I have two amazing dogs, and I love being around them. Stuff like that puts life in perspective because everything can’t be exciting, and if you can enjoy mundaneness, then you’ve cracked it. In general, I can be pretty detached. I don’t have many relationships – as in, friends, or even family. You could say it’s a manufacturing defect.
GQ: Solitude is underrated.
RK: At some point it begins to seem selfish. Often, I’m in my own little cocoon, and there’s a lot of making up to do. As I grow older, I realise that life is not really what happens on a movie set. The truth is that people forget you, even if you’ve done 30 years of amazing work, and you’ve left a legacy behind. When you’re 70 or 75, you’re not going to have that fame and adulation. People aren’t going to want to take selfies with you, and after it’s all done, who’s it going to be? It’s going to be you alone in a chair with an oxygen tank, wondering where everyone went. I’m painting a drastic picture right now, as a warning to myself that this could be me, and I don’t want to be that person. I want to have healthy grandchildren, a companion, even at the age of 80.
GQ: Are you dating Alia [Bhatt]?
RK: It’s really new right now, and I don’t want to over speak. It needs time to breathe and it needs space. As an actor, as a person, Alia is – what’s the right word? – flowing right now. When I see her work, when I see her act, even in life, what she gives is something that I’m aspiring to for myself. It’s new for us, so let it cook a bit.
GQ: What’s the best thing about being newly in love?
RK: It always comes with a lot of excitement. It’s a new person, it comes with new beats. Old tricks become new tricks again – you know, being charming and romantic, all of that. I think I’m more balanced today. I value relationships more. I can appreciate hurt and what it does to a person much more than I could a couple years back.
GQ: When would you say you came into your own?
RK: In school, I was below average – in academics, in dramatics, in sports. Football was the only thing I was decent at. But as an experience, school was amazing, even though I sucked at it. The friends I made are still my close friends. After school I went to HR College, by which I mean I stood outside [the college] and ate dosa. Then I went to the School of Visual Arts [in New York] for three years and did a year at Lee Strasberg. After I came back, I began assisting Sanjay Leela Bhansali on Black. That’s when I realised how much work a film requires, when I knew which direction I wanted to head in.
GQ: What do you like spending your money on?
RK: There was a time when I used to want to buy a car, a gadget, clothes. I still buy a lot of clothes, but with the other stuff I’ve realised it’s not worth it, because it’ll only make you happy temporarily. Now, I’d rather channel my money into investments, to help other people, and save as well. Maybe I’ll need it once I’m older.
GQ: How has your personal style evolved?
RK: It’s stayed pretty much the same: sneakers, jeans, a T-shirt or a shirt and a New York Yankees cap. I’m a sneakerhead; I usually buy two pairs of each – like they say, “one to rock, one to stock”. I love caps too. I think because I was really shy, it was a kind of security blanket. I could cover my face or look down.
GQ: You’re on GQ’s Best-Dressed List. Where do you shop?
RK: New York has an amazing sneaker store called Flight Club. I have a reseller – you know, those guys who buy shoes as soon as they’re out and then sell them later for a higher price – in London who hooks me up with every kind of sneaker, because the ones I usually like are snapped up within seconds. It could take me a year to get them, and they’re also ferociously expensive. Basically, I’m a shopping addict, so I’m shopping all the time – online at Mr Porter; in Amsterdam, in London, at places like Harvey Nichols, Selfridges. But I also don’t hoard stuff. So at any given time, I’ll only have 15 shirts, never 25-30, even though I’m buying new stuff all the time. I also have a bit of an OCD problem: If you look at my cupboard, everything’s neatly organised, the clothes are all colour-coordinated.
GQ: Where do you like to hang out in your house?
RK: I have a lot of books in my study and several amazing Japanese toys that I collect, called BE@RBRICK. Also, a really interesting sculpture by [Hong Kong artist] Michael Lau, who makes these artsy action figures. And I’m a Supreme addict. Everything I own, whether it’s underwear, a shaver, a charger, the cover for my phone – everything is Supreme. I don’t know, maybe it’s the way the logo’s written, maybe it’s that red is my favourite colour. People around me laugh when they see how much Supreme stuff I own.
GQ: I believe your parents’ home has some Jehangir Sabavala paintings. Are you interested in collecting art?
RK: The first time I really invested in art was to buy a work by a [possible] Banksy alias, Mr Brainwash. It’s a painting of Charlie Chaplin hugging Micky Mouse, with different collages behind him. But art is new to me, it’s something I want to collect over the years. So far this is the only piece I’ve connected with.
GQ: There was a fire at RK Studios last year. Was much lost?
RK: Apart from the financial and emotional loss, there was a museum, which had all his [Raj Kapoor’s] old costumes. A lot of tourists, Russians especially, used to come to see his costumes from Mera Naam Joker, for one. So that’s a bummer, it’s quite fucked up. It was sad for my grandmother especially. I went to the studio with her – she was in a wheelchair and had tears in her eyes when she saw the damage. Perhaps this accident will spur my uncles and my father to think about doing more with the space.
GQ: Do you see yourself reviving the RK banner?
RK: I find the word “revival” a bit pompous. RK Studios was what it was because of my grandfather – I don’t think I have the talent or the storytelling abilities to fly that particular flag. If I want to produce, I’ll definitely start something new, which I tried with Jagga Jasoos, with Anurag Basu. If I direct a movie, I’ll probably produce it, but not under the RK Studios banner.
GQ: What are you reading right now?
RK: It’ll take me a good three or four months to read a book, but I try and read a couple of pages every night. Right now, I’m in the middle of Joan Didion’s The Year Of Magical Thinking and Haruki Murakami’s What I Talk About When I Talk About Running. I love running, so I’m really enjoying the book. I used to run at Pali Hill late at night, but not so much any more. When I travel, I don’t go to the gym, I go to a park. Running in Hyde Park or Central Park – that’s an amazing feeling.
GQ: I heard you were giving vaping a go.
RK: I quit smoking for four months, then started rolling cigarettes again just last month – just one or two a day. It’s something I’m scared of because I’ve been a nicotine addict since I was 15, and it’s the worst kind of addiction. It’s taken me trips to Austria, to this doctor who gave me injections in my ears, to help me quit smoking the first time, because I don’t think I have the willpower to give it up on my own. But vaping isn’t working for me either – you can’t leave one habit for another. Eventually it’ll just come back more ferociously.
GQ: What’s on your bucket list?
RK: Skydiving. Winning a cup for Mumbai FC [the ISL football team that he co-owns]. Buying a house in New York, and spending some time there. Building a weekend home in Pavna. Mating my two dogs. They’re mastiffs, so it’s really hard to find girls.
Hair: Team Hakim’s Aalim Make-up: Ajay Naik; Assistant Stylists: Tanya Vohra, Ravneet Channa; Fashion Assistant: Desirée Fernandes; Production: Megha Mehta, Anomaly Production.
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