Will Ranbir Slay Box Office After Four-Year Hiatus?

BENGALURU: After a gap of four years, Ranbir Kapoor is gearing up to return to the silver screen with two mega-budget films ‘Shamshera’ and ‘Brahmastra’. While ‘Shamshera’ is produced by Aditya Chopra and directed by Karan Malhotra, ‘Brahmastra’ is bankrolled by Karan Johar and helmed by Ranbir’s best friend Ayan Mukerji.

The trailers of both the movies have received largely positive responses from the trade and they will hit the screens on July 22 (Shamshera) and September 9 (Brahmastra) respectively. Ranbir’s last release was Raj Kumar Hirani’s ‘Sanju’ which set the box-office ablaze and became a humongous blockbuster. Before ‘Sanju’, Ranbir’s career was fraying at the edges but the Sanjay Dutt biopic once again slalomed him to the top bracket.

Instead of capitalising on the massive success and signing a lot of projects, the ‘Shamshera’ actor took a four-year hiatus, partly because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But will this hiatus prove to be a deterrent for him? In the past, Aamir Khan and Dilip Kumar – who were extremely selective – had taken such sabbaticals in their careers but that didn’t affect their popularity.

But it must be stated that Dilip Kumar and Aamir Khan were established superstars, while Ranbir has been touted as the next superstar for the last 15 years. He’s been undeniably an A-list star but is yet to become a superstar.

Raj Bansal, a veteran distributor and close friend of Ranbir’s late father Rishi Kapoor, told The New Indian that he’s very happy now with the choice of his films. “I loved the trailer of ‘Shamshera’. Ranbir hasn’t done an out-and-out potboiler and I’m extremely glad he’s now delving into this genre. My late friend Rishi Kapoor used to tell me that Ranbir should be doing more mainstream films,” he stated.

On Ranbir’s four-year hiatus, he asserted that Ranbir should be doing more films to harness his potential as a box-office star. “Ranbir has always been a very popular star. But he is very, very selective. He should certainly be doing more films. I feel there are two stars – Ranbir and Hrithik Roshan – who are exceedingly talented and popular but aren’t optimising their potential. They should be seen more on the big screen,” Bansal said.

Tanuj Garg, a producer, reckons Ranbir is a superstar irrespective of the fate of his films at the turnstiles. “To me, Ranbir has always been a superstar. Sometimes, stardom can be subjective. Who I think is a superstar might not be a superstar for you. Shah Rukh, Salman and Aamir have been huge stars in their own right but Ranbir has carved out a distinct place for himself,” he opined.

He continued: “This four-year hiatus has only whetted my appetite to see him on the silver screen. I’m gung-ho to watch both ‘Shamshera’ and ‘Brahsmastra’. I think they will be super successful and will catapult him to a higher plane.”

When asked about Ranbir’s acting chops, Garg concluded by saying, “Ranbir has his own inimitable style and presence. He’s a brilliant actor and has proved that so many times over the years. He’s in a different league and here to stay for many more years.”

The Bollywood films have been alarmingly bombing at the turnstiles in 2022 till now. If ‘Shamshera’ and ‘Brahmastra’ strike gold at the box office, Ranbir will finally emerge out of the shadows of Khans and become a true-blue superstar.