If this was the West, Ranveer Singh would be Lady Gaga. In a society where celebs dictate fashion, the actor loves to break the mould, and we approve.
Known for his quirky sartorial choices, Ranveer took it a notch higher when he wore PJs for the GQ Awards night recently. He grabbed many eyeballs and stood out from the fashionably turned-out crowd. Some said it was simply outrageous, while others lauded his ability to make a statement. Either ways, his strategy worked.
Filmmaker Pritish Nandy believes that being unique is the new trend. “The magic of Ranveer is that he stands out. The business of stardom is attracting attention and he does exactly that. Being average doesn’t work any more. The Sanjeev Kumar era is dead. While everyone wants to be a superhero, Ranveer is different,” Pritish adds.
When Alia Bhatt was heavily criticised for being “not so smart”, she took it on her chin and worked it to her advantage. In fact, her “Miss Stupid” act was more talked about than any of her films. Adman Prahlad Kakkar says, “Alia’s a great sport. She played it to the gallery. In the industry, you need to play to your strengths. If you’ll act like a clown just for the heck of it, you’ll look stupid. You need to be able to carry it off.”
Other stars like Ranbir Kapoor and Abhishek Bachchan are very suave, but somehow never manage to create a flutter off-screen. Whether it’s by choice or design, one needs to amp up their game to survive in showbiz. After all, being good looking is just not enough anymore.
“Today, being good looking is part of the norm. Anyone can style themselves interestingly, that’s not special. People want heroes who are unlike them,” Pritish says.
With social media growing rapidly, there’s instant feedback and backlash. It happened to Hrithik Roshan recently when he wasn’t careful with his Tweets. While Ranveer may come across as eccentric, Hrithik looks dumb. Let's see how he plans on doing damage control like Alia successfully did.
However, director Rajshree Ojha feels that it’s good of young actors to express themselves. “Will Smith’s son Jaden wore a dress to a prom, which was his way of making a statement. But again, it’s not such a big thing. Ultimately, your work talks, not your clothes. All that they are trying to say is, ‘I’m an individual. This is how I am going to be,’” Rajshree adds.
