Actor Ranbir Kapoor says he views competition as a healthy and beneficial exercise, amid the buzz that the upcoming award season will be a face-off between his and Ranveer Singh's performances.
The year began with Ranveer garnering critical acclaim for his portrayal of Sultan Alauddin Khilji in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmaavat, that released on January 25.
Ranbir, who has been through a dull box office phase in the last couple of years, bounced back last Friday as his latest Sanju, a biopic on actor Sanjay Dutt, has registered a strong opening at the ticket window.
The Rajkumar Hirani-directed film has fetched immense praise for Ranbir slipping into the role of Dutt effortlessly.
Asked about the comparisons between him and Ranveer, Ranbir told PTI, “I’ve seen Ranveer in ‘Padmaavat’ and I was really bowled over by his performance. I thought he was phenomenal. I’ve now been pitted against Ranveer as ‘competition’. It’s amazing to have that. It only pushes us to do better work.”
"He (Ranveer) inspires and excites me. There are times his films do better business than mine and hopefully there will be a time when my films will be doing better business. It will be an interesting pattern," he adds.
Ranbir made his debut 11 years ago with Bhansali's Saawariya, which bombed at the box office. However, the 35-year-old actor later cemented his identity as one of the best performers in the current generations with films such as Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year, Wake Up! Sid, Raajneeti, Barfi! and Rockstar.
Ranveer, on the other hand, had a breakthrough with his debut Band Baaja Baarat before finding his perfect mix of box office success and critical acclaim in Bhansali's Ram Leela, Bajirao Mastani and Padmaavat.
Ranbir says both Ranveer and him have received offers to co-star in films but they do not want to do a project which does injustice to either of their acting chops.
“We are two actors who have their own sensibilities. We can’t come together just as a project. It has to be liked by both of us, individually. I am really looking forward to working with him and also Varun and Tiger. When you do a two-hero film, you share the burden. It’s also easier because you have a partner-in-crime and you can have a lot of fun on sets too,” he says.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)