As we all know, the Kapoor family is hailed as the ‘first family’ of Bollywood for all the right reasons. From the time of Raj Kapoor till now, this family has entertained the masses with her performance and acting mettle. Almost all the actors hailing from the Kapoor clan of B-Town have successfully established their niche in the entertainment space. A big reason behind the same is proper identification of place. The key is to go ahead with the ‘tried & tested’ formula that works instead of experimenting way too much. As an actor, going beyond the comfort zone and trying unique and different stuff is essential. That’s precisely what the life of an actor is about, right? You are constantly torn mentally between what’s ‘accepted’ and perhaps ‘desirable’ and ‘may/may not be accepted’. Well, Ranbir Kapoor is one actor who’s undoubtedly done his best to take the legacy of the Kapoor family forward.

In 2007, when Sanjay Leela Bhansali announced that the late Rishi Kapoor’s son would spearhead his romantic venture ‘Sawaariya’, fans had high expectations from the actor. However, things didn’t go according to plan. The movie tanked severely at the box office, and why not? If the audience were given the option to watch one between debutant Ranbir Kapoor’s “Sawariya” and superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘Om Shanti Om’, without any element of doubt, people would go for the latter to ensure their ‘paisa is vasool’. Add to that, ‘seeti maar’ action and romance alongside SRK displaying his 8-pack abs for the first time compiled with a particular song by Farah Khan that almost had entire Bollywood under one roof, and it is no hidden secret that it would get the better of the debut actor’s movie.

But Ranbir Kapoor wasn’t to give up. ‘Comeback is always stronger than setback’. And well, it seems like Ranbir etched the thought in his mind entirely because of this; he got a lot more selective about his choice of roles and movies to ensure that as far as ‘commercial success’ is concerned, he does enough justice to the good looks, charm and acting mettle that he has. Ranbir might be from a family that’s known to produce superstars. However, he didn’t take that for granted. He’s a properly trained actor from abroad, and well, all he needed was a significant opportunity to unleash his versatility. Well, that’s exactly where the movies he did after his debut started to work for him in a row. Movies like Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani, Bachna Ae Haseeno, Wake Up Sid, Rockstar, and others were huge successes. This was enough to proudly announce to Ranbir, “Ladies and gentlemen, I have arrived, and how.”

And well, when we talk about Ranbir Kapoor and his exceptional potential in rom-com movies, how can we not talk about ‘Yeh Jaawani Hai Deewani’, one of his greatest hits ever? Years after years, Ranbir grew older, but his boyish charm and childish innocence ensured he kept grabbing the kind of movies he specialises in. Ranbir has always been very gutsy as an actor and has never failed to experiment. If there’s one modern-day superstar who’s maintained a brilliant balance between testing and playing in his “safe zone”, that’s Ranbir Kapoor. As an admirer of Ranbir, Ranbir’s career-best performance has been in ‘Sanju’. The movie wasn’t about getting the act of Sanjay Dutt. The hard work involved in multiple physical transformations to other stuff was incredible. While with films like Brahmastra and Shamshera, he was trying to do what he’s capable of; the audience was missing the same ‘chocolate boy’ and naughty charm-holder Ranbir somewhere down the line who would remind them of Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani vibes. Well, that’s precisely where Luv Ranjan decided to come into the scenario by casting him alongside Shraddha Kapoor for ‘Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar’. Going by the trailer, it is set to be an exciting and entertaining joyride with a quirky tale on most modern-day relationships.

While Ranbir is expected to slay in terms of performance, what’s most striking about him in the trailer of ‘TJMM’ is how incredibly young and fit he looks. I was present myself during the trailer launch of the movie, where I hilariously even spoke about the same to him at the event. I remember telling him, “Ranbir, you look like a 25-year-old ‘launda’ in the trailer.” How difficult was it to look like way and make it look like you are ageing backwards? To this, the actor had an interesting response and was quoted as saying,

“The genre is so hard. In these kinds of films, you need to look good. There’s nothing called youth. So, you have to look younger also. Its different if it’s a rom-com written for a certain age. However, it’s all hard work. Shraddha, I and everybody was motivated and inspired by the entertainment quotient it offers; hence, we wanted to give our best.”

Well, the answer is a clear validation that despite having proven himself as a modern-day star and sensation, Ranbir would not take anything for granted or be complacent about it. He just enjoyed one of his greatest hits in Brahmastra in 2022, and this is the kind of motivation coming from his end. Well, here’s hoping that with ‘Tu Jhooti Main Makkaar’, fans get to once again rejoice, celebrate and have a significant amount of fun watching Ranbir, aka the ‘latest chiraag of the Kapoor family’ slay in the genre that he owns, for real. 8th March is the day, folks. Let’s get going, RK fans. Get ready to show some love.