Born to Bollywood royalty, Ranbir Kapoor has turned himself into a star of the Hindi film industry in his own right. The son of actors Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh, and the grandson of actor-director Raj Kapoor, Ranbir made his acting debut in Bollywood in the 2007 film, Saawariya.
The film flopped, but that did not stop him from starring in multiple blockbusters across genres over the following years and gaining acclaim for his performances. Ranbir is married to fellow actor Alia Bhatt, with whom he shares a daughter, Raha.
The actor celebrates his birthday every year on September 28. Commemorating the day, today’s quote is an excerpt from his 2016 interview with Man’s World. The quote reads: “You have to find yourself in your work, work with good people and constantly reinvent yourself.”
What is the meaning of Ranbir Kapoor’s quote?
Ranbir Kapoor has always had a romantic hero appeal, but his choice of films throughout his career has been, to an extent, unconventional and unpredictable. When asked about it in the interview, the actor shared that he was exploring different facets and challenging himself in his craft.
He stated that in films and arts in general, there is nothing better than charting your own path, and someone who is strictly following the footsteps of others is not likely to go beyond the horizon of what has already been done.
In his words, “In the world of films and in the arts, if you do what you believe in and what comes naturally to you, there’s nothing better than that. You will not succeed if you follow someone else’s career path. You have to find yourself in your work, work with good people and constantly reinvent yourself.”
“The time has gone when an actor was a caricature of himself and doing the same thing repeatedly. I think in today’s day and age, the term star or superstar is going to get diminished, and content is going to be the new superstar,” he added.
What is the relevance of Ranbir Kapoor’s quote?
In the age when films, as well as other arts, are running in danger of becoming formulaic and the people bankrolling them are favouring profitability over other qualities, Ranbir Kapoor’s statement serves as a reminder that the arts are meant to explore a greater truth – of the artist as well as the society at large.
For an actor (or artist), their work is a reflection of themselves. If we enrich ourselves with the company of good people and put in the work to reinvent ourselves, only then can we create a body of work that is worth considering to be art in the first place, and not just soulless content.
