Bollywood Baatein: From Ranbir to Ranveer to Kartik- Bollywood’s Hero-giri profile is changing in no time

The first time I saw Ranbir Kapoor he was sitting in a corner of my hotel room at Taj Lands End. My dear friend Sanjay Leela Bhansaliwas shooting Saawariya. They packed up for the day and Sanjay announced he was going to meet me. Ranbir and Sonam Kapoor decided to accompany Sanjay.

That’s how I met Ranbir and Sonam for the first time. That evening (it was actually very late in the night) Ranbir sat very quietly in a corner as Sonam chirped on in her high-pitched voice.

Ranbir is an observer. He always has been. I thought he would go a lot further than he actually did. But wrong selection of roles, choices based on audacity rather than rationale (which sane superstar would voluntarily do Roy and Bombay Velvet?), has brought his career to a crossroad.

The actor who benefited most from Ranbir’s mistakes was Ranveer Singh. While Ranbir snatched Bombay Velvet from Ranveer (Ranveer’s dates, costumes everything was finalised) Ranbir refused to do Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram Leela which Ranveer grabbed. Thus began the actor’s partnership with Bhansali which has lasted through three career-defining films.

Ranbir has no regrets about his career choices. He is not one to live in regrets. He doesn’t feel the need to wonder why some of his career choices suck.

It would be interesting to see where Ranbir and Ranveer go from here. The next couple of years once the pandemic is over, will prove crucial to their respective careers. I hear Karan Johar who is fond of both Ranbir and Ranveer is planning to cast them in a remake of Subhash Ghai’s Ram Lakhan. No prizes for guessing who plays Ram and who will play Lakhan.

While the last two generation of actors are well ensconced in their career, a new generation of superstars has already arrived. This new third generation in 15 years is aviated by Kartik Aaryan, the outsider who has claimed superstardom without any compromises. He has the guts to take on the most complex of roles at such an early phase of his career.

Like Alia Bhatt, Kartik has a wish list of directors he wants to work with. He knows what he wants from his career. And won’t stop at anything to get to his goals. But without any compromises, or the aid of Sugar Daddys.

Kids adore him, grandmoms want to cuddle him. For my money and time Kartik Aaryan is the face of Bollywood’s superstardom in the years to come.