Ranveer Singh's Eye

I hope you all are doing well. I don't mean to offend anyone, but there's this genuine concern I want to ask you all about. Ever since Ranveer Singh has entered Bollywood, I have been noticing something extremely weird about one of his eyes.

I am unable to figure out which of his two eyes is having a problem (cross-eyed / crooked / lazy eye). It has always bothered me, but I just cannot figure it out. In this picture, his expressions are aggressive, which means both his eyes should be sticking out in rage as he gives that glare.

What do you guys think?

Ranveer Singh talks about the most distinctive character he's ever played. (The Hindu)

Few days to go for the release of Bajirao Mastani , we find Ranveer Singh lounging in a hotel room in suburban Mumbai. He's still sporting his look from the film - shaven head with a ponytail and a ridiculously twirled moustache. In a chat with The Hindu , the young actor talks about being tailor-made for Sanjay Leela Bhansali, his sometimes outrageous sense of fashion and why he doesn't look into the monitor on the sets. Edited excerpts from the interview.

You have a strong off screen personality. But that doesn't seem visible in the characters you play.

I work very hard at it. My hero, really, is Daniel Day Lewis. You can't believe he is the same guy in all those movies -- My Left Foot , There Will Be Blood . The kind of transformation he undergoes is shocking. As an actor, I strive for this chameleon-like quality and versatility.

How does one do it considering the actor has to draw from his own life experiences to play a character?

You allow the material to take the decisions for you. I don't know if it's an innate ability, but when I get a narration, I already know how I am going to play the character. And if I haven't figured that out, I do a lot of preparation. When I heard the script of Bajirao , I knew it was going to be the most distinctive character that I've ever got. And I wanted to direct my own workshop, take my own decisions on how the character will talk, his body language, his physicality.

How did you arrive at those decisions?

For 21 days, I locked myself in a hotel room, was disconnected from people, friends and family and tried to transport myself to the film's time and space.

I made a conscious decision that Bajirao should look like a tough guy. He is a warrior. If he opens the door, enters the room and walks towards you, you should feel the air hitting you first. I believe the change in physicality is the starting point; when you start looking like the character, you start feeling different. The day I shaved my hair was a big breakthrough. By the second week in that hotel room, my body had started transforming and I had started to feel like Peshwa Bajirao.

You also speak with a Marathi twang. It's a Hindi film, why was that important?

Because that's how I hear this character; when I read the dialogues, it's not in straight Hindi but with a Maharashtrian slant. I also watched a lot of Marathi films. My diction coach, Rishikesh, was like my shadow through the year, every day of the shoot.

In our earlier interview, you'd told me that you are the Bobby (Robert De Niro) to the Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Marty (Martin Scorsese)

*Laughs* I am not comparing myself with them but you have certain director-actor partnerships in movie history that bring out the best in each other. There's just tremendous synergy. I'd said it during Ram Leela and I'll say it again, the way I am as an actor, I am tailor-made for the Bhansali process.

What is the Bhansali process like?

He is collaborative and hands on. He lets you bring your interpretation of a character but you can't come to the sets pre-decided that this is exactly how you are going to play it that day. You never know what is that X - factor' he is going to demand on the sets, in that space, with the actors. Many times, you wonder if he is nitpicking - tiny details like, don't blink between those two sentences'. I don't look at the monitor at the time of shooting. So now that I see the scenes, I realise he is editing scenes in his head during the shooting.

So you are not one of those actors who obsessively check the monitor on the sets?

When I play a character, I just look at myself in the mirror to see if my make-up is done well. I have stopped checking the monitor because what is there to see? If I start performing with the knowledge of how I'm looking, it will be cheating. It will kill the honesty and won't be organic.

I don't have a face where I can make any expression and still look aesthetically pleasing. Sometimes I may make expressions that are ugly but they are honest. Some people have beautiful features and whatever they do, they look good.

Like?

Brad Pitt. And Deepika, perhaps. Even when she is doing the Thangabali scene (*mimics her*), she looks damn cute yaar .

You recently wore a skirt at a couple of events. You like experimenting with your clothes?

I get bored wearing the same things so I like to shake things up. I wouldn't call it experimental, it's instinctive dressing. My stylist brings me 12 options, I pick up one and if I feel good, I wear it. Right now, I don't even have hair, so I take five minutes to get ready. And I don't filter it. If I feel good wearing something, I don't think how others will like it. What's important is that when I leave the house I should feel like a million bucks and more often than not, I do.

You have had a variety of looks for your characters - clean-shaven, stubble, the lumberjack and the handlebar moustache. If you have to choose one look, which one would it be?

It would be the Ram Leela look: full beard and long hair. That's me.