Ranbir Kapoor is the ying to Imtiaz Ali’s yang. They fit with each other like searching pieces of an incomplete puzzle. Imtiaz Ali is a perfect mentor for his muse RK and RK is a perfect muse for mentor Imtiaz Ali. Actually they are more than that to each other. 🙂
This probably sounds like a big statement to make but trust me , it’s not ! And you will clearly know what I mean when you will see RK with all the other directors ( with due respect to all ) and when you see his work with Imtiaz Ali. The contrast is subdued yet strikingly sharp. Ironic? Right. But that’s the thing bout’ these two. Their souls coming together to a conjecture is capable of emitting light, and by light I mean in the form of acute cinematic spark, off course!
RK’s potential was for all of us to see right since ‘Saawariya’ but ‘Rockstar’ took him to another level of commitment to himself, which went straight up to the deepest level his truthfulness. I have seen films being crisp & raw but I have never seen a performance so crisp & nude, EVER! I have never seen this guy more honest to himself in his work, than how he was in Rockstar. RK is real and natural, when it comes to acting. A knack which very few actors of this generation have. He has glimpses of Raj Kapoor, and Rishi Kapoor in his mannerisms which are not hard to notice – but yet his superpower lies in being just a very regular artist who is very easy for people to relate to in terms of his characters with no particular style as such AND that makes it easy to fit him into a variety of characters- regular & irregular both!
So either be it a Jaat guy who wants to make it big as a Rockstar, or be it just a regular guy who is going through an identity crisis unable to find himself – we know there was no replacement to RK in both the cases! Clearly, Imtiaz Ali brings the best out of him, knowingly or unknowingly. Like how a matchstick ( RK ) burns & gives light when it strikes against a matchbox ( IA ). This is exactly how these two are.
With these two, it’s like Imtiaz Ali knows how to touch the exact right chords of Ranbir Kapoor to deliver an optimum performance – neither less nor more, just perfect!
Their communication is all about exactitude but I don’t know how to exactly put their communication dynamics into words because their communication is through souls, more than mouths. And I don’t think it would be wrong to say that they even get each other sometimes without words as well. I am not saying that. Their work says that. :p If RK had his core of potential completely untouched, it was no one else but Imtiaz Ali who was the first to not only tap that potential to a deeper extent but also knock him off completely from his comfort zone of acting, which eventually stretched his self – imposed limits.
Imtiaz Ali gets RK completely and RK trusts him completely.
It’s the same template and dynamics of RK and Imtiaz Ali acting-direction in ‘Tamasha’ as well. RK made the role of a normal middle-class guy & his internal struggles look so calm and poised – not even for a moment it went brash or loud or over or under; in spite of the dramatic hard-hitting scenes. Real again. Just so real. RK & Imtiaz Ali’s vibrations weave together magic, whether they have been about creating together either ‘Ved’ or ‘Jordan.’
But this guy has a lot more to give & his intense and vast potential is promising and we hope in the next Imtiaz Ali film, it goes even a notch above.
I think it won’t be much to say that every RK needs an Imtiaz Ali and vice-versa too. 🙂
If not for cinema, then maybe just to lead a more evolved life!
If you know what I mean.
This article is written by @iamtaaliya21
