Career Debut and success (2007–10) Following the release of Black, Bhansali cast Kapoor as the protagonist of his 2007 tragic romance Saawariya alongside Sonam Kapoor and Rani Mukerji. The film tells the story of a tramp, Ranbir Raj, who falls obsessively in love with a woman awaiting the return of her lover. In an interview with the news and entertainment portal Rediff, Kapoor stated that his character in the film was written to pay a conscious tribute to his grandfather Raj Kapoor. Saawariya was the first Indian film to be produced by a Hollywood studio (Sony Pictures Entertainment), and was a highly anticipated release. Film critics were disappointed with the picture; BBCs Jaspreet Pandohar called the film a misfire on a massive scale and CNN-IBNs Rajeev Masand considered it contrived and fake. Masand, however, was impressed by Kapoors affable charm and added that he’s got that star quality to him which is so rare to find. At the box office, Saawariya proved to be an economic failure. However, at the annual Filmfare Awards ceremony, Kapoor was awarded with a Best Male Debut trophy. Despite the commercial failure of Saawariya, Kapoor was contracted by Yash Raj Films (a leading Bollywood studio) for a primary role in the Siddharth Anand-directed romantic comedy Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008).The film was his first commercial success, in which his role was that of Raj Sharma, a womaniser who is romantically involved with three women (played by Bipasha Basu, Minissha Lamba, and Deepika Padukone) at different stages of his life. In 2009 Kapoor featured in three films—Wake Up Sid, Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani, and Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year. He won the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor for his performances in these films, and received Best Actor nominations at the ceremony for the first two. In Dharma Productionss Wake Up Sid, a coming of age film from director Ayan Mukerji, Kapoor portrayed Siddharth Sid Malhotra, a rich, lazy teenager whose life undergoes a series of changes after interacting with an ambitious journalist (played by Konkana Sen Sharma). When Mukerji narrated the then-untitled script of the film to him, Kapoor came up with the title himself. Media reports described the film as an unconventional romance between a younger man and an older woman, and expressed doubt on its economic prospects. It eventually emerged as a sleeper hit and received acclaim from the critics. Both Kapoor and Sen Sharmas performances were praised; Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama labelled Kapoors performance award-worthy and wrote that in Wake Up Sid he proves that hes amongst the best in the business today. Kapoors next appearance was opposite Katrina Kaif in Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani, a comedy from director Rajkumar Santoshi . The film was generally well received by the critics, and emerged as the third highest-grossing film of 2009. Kapoor described his next release, the Shimit Amin-directed drama Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year, to be an underdog story and added that his character (a sardar) was that of a middle-class guy, who wants to be a salesman. For the role, he grew a beard to get into the skin of the character. Film critic Mayank Shekhar found his performance in the film to be astonishingly sincere and The New York Times commended him for turning in a skilfully understated performance. Despite receiving praise from critics, the film failed to recover its investment. In an 2010 interview with Bollywood Hungama, Kapoor said that Rocket Singh was a movie that he truly believed in, and professed to being highly disappointed by its commercial failure. Prakash Jhas big-budget ensemble political thriller Raajneeti was Kapoors first release of 2010. The film, which starred Nana Patekar, Ajay Devgn, Arjun Rampal, Manoj Bajpayee, Katrina Kaif and Sarah Thompson in prominent roles, was inspired by the Indian epic The Mahabharata and Mario Puzos 1969 novel The Godfather. Kapoors role was that of Samar Pratap (based on the characters of Arjuna and Michael Corleone), the youngest heir of an Indian political dynasty, who is reluctantly drawn to politics after the assassination of his father. He received a third Best Actor nomination at Filmfare. In an interview with the Press Trust of India, Kapoor described the character of Pratap to be a departure from the lover boy roles that he had established a reputation of portraying. Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India reviewed, The film finally belongs to Ranbir Kapoor who perfects the art of minimalism – and literally grows before your eyes – as the simmering volcano that cannot be held back, once it erupts. Robert Abele of the Los Angeles Times, however, was more critical of his performance which he considered stony rather than calculating—especially jarring compared to the histrionic turns around him. Indian trade journalists were apprehensive of Rajneeti recovering its INR600 million (US$9.2 million) investment. The film, however, surpassed trade expectations and proved a major commercial success with worldwide earnings of over INR1.43 billion (US$22 million. That same year, Kapoor collaborated with Priyanka Chopra on Anands Anjaana Anjaani, a dramedy involving two strangers who vow to commit suicide on New Years Eve. The film received little praise from the critics, and was a moderate economic success. Rajeev Masand noted that Kapoor struggles with a badly-defined role and NDTVs Anupama Chopra concluded, Ranbir tries hard to salvage the film, dropping his shirt several times but even his lovingly shot chest can’t save the film
Posted on: Mon, 11 Nov 2013 03:41:20 +0000
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015