From being a college student and a wedding planner who is happy to mouth ‘Bread Pakode Ki Kasam’ to now turning out to be a spy who takes on the enemy in an uninhibited killer avtar, there is a huge evolution that Ranveer Singh is all set to see from Band Baaja Baaraat to Dhurandhar. To say that this would be the most important film ever of his career would be an understatement since there is a lot that the actor has gone through.

Things were actually all fine for him till before pandemic. Three big ones with Sanjay Leela Bhansali (Padmaavat, Bajirao Mastani, Ram Leela), a solo 200 Crore Club blockbuster to his name (Simmba), and a critically acclaimed box office success (Gully Boy) in a matter of just 6 years meant that he was amongst the top superstars in the making. His positioning cemented in the Top-10, he was destined to only move higher up and at the very least find himself right at No. 7 spot after the three Khans, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn and Hrithik Roshan.

The closest competition was Ranbir Kapoor, who had his own Sanju to boast of in recent times.

So what really happened?

Well, just as it happened with most other superstars and stars, pandemic turned out to be a spanner in the plans. For some out there, the films saw a delayed release. Some made a compromise of a film. Some took the OTT route. Some just stopped making films altogether. Some lost their audience altogether.

Ranveer was the one to be impacted as well.

His ‘83, albeit a well made film, arrived right over the weekend when the third wave of COVID hit. It was pushed ahead already and now when the release date was finally announced, it just couldn’t have been delayed any further. The film did 100 crores, its song ‘Lehra Do’ is a sports anthem today and catching up with ‘Chak De India’ and Ranveer was appreciated too for his portrayal of Kapil Dev. However, high cost of making and pandemic arrival meant that its run was cut short.

Then came Jayeshbhai Jordaar and the less said about it, the better. It was a poor film and Ranveer was a misfit too for the role of a meek Gujarati youngster. One wonders why he even did the film, notwithstanding his association with YRF that had resulted in his debut and a few successful films. This one deserved to be avoided though. As for Cirkus, it was a compromise affair. Even director Rohit Shetty admitted that the film had to be made as there was a huge production crew which was waiting to get going post pandemic and hence Cirkus was designed as a quickie to help everyone commercially.

Three back to back flops can jolt anyone and Ranveer too wasn’t an exception, especially since he was knocking the doors of the top guns just a couple of years back. Thankfully for him, there was Karan Johar’s Rocky Rani Kii Prem Kahaani next and that one turned out to be a 150 crores hit. For a romcom, this one was a good box office success and trademark Ranveer Singh energy was on display as well. However, what surprises is that within the trade and the industry, neither the film nor the actor got as much credit as they both deserved. It’s a different matter though that recently the film also got a National Award which goes on to show its credibility.

Nonetheless, with finally a success behind him, Ranveer chose to put all his energy into his next, Dhurandhar. In between there could have been Don 3 as well but then with the Farhan Akhtar film moving to 2026, it’s Dhurandhar which has fetched eyeballs and now it would be practically after two and a half years that Ranveer would be seeing a film of his at the big screen.

One does wonder whether this is a right strategic move for Ranveer or whether he should have done another film in the interim period. Well, in my view, this is a perfect thought. We saw that a couple of years back when Shah Rukh Khan decided to step back and then roared with Pathaan. Of course, there is no comparison between Ranveer Singh and Shah Rukh Khan but then the approach of first resetting and then firing away all cylinders again does turn out to be good when the end product indeed turns out to be credible.

In the case of Dhurandhar, it indeed looks like the case if the teaser and the title song are any indication. Right from the look to the body language to the attitude to the overall persona, Ranveer is arriving in a new version of himself and the trailer is yet to arrive. Soon enough the film’s trailer would also be released. No wonder, the expectations are huge.

Ranveer has shown particularly during Padmaavat that what kind of force he can be when he turns into a beast mode. With Dhurandhar giving him a platform to excel and actors like Sanjay Dutt, Madhavan, Akshaye Khanna and Arjun Rampal supporting him, you know that this is going to be a testosterone driven affair.

All that one expects from Ranveer Singh is to leverage this opportunity, and shine!