Ranveer Singh: I always wanted to be Rohit Shetty's hero

Ranveer Singh in a still from Simmba. Image sourced from mid-day archives

After kicking off 2018 with a bang with Padmaavat - which came as a relief amidst a spate of under-performing films - Ranveer Singh is bid adieu to 2018 with Simmba that roared loudly at the box-office. The Rohit Shetty directorial was the first time Ranveer Singh played the role of a cop. His performance as the corrupt police officer Simmba, who has a moral turnaround to become the saviour of justice, got a positive response from critics and audiences.

Speaking to IANS, the actor said that he always wanted to be Rohit Shetty's hero. "Rohit is the king of the action-entertainment and the masala genre. I always wanted to be his hero and when I got this opportunity, I gave it my all. Both of us are entertainers at our core - we like entertaining the audiences to the hilt," Ranveer said.

His character Sangram Bhalerao has a special place in his heart.

"Sangram Bhalerao will always stay extraordinarily close to my heart because I got to act in a film, in a genre which was my home territory. I'm thankful to Rohit Shetty for believing in me and making me part of his power-packed cop universe," the Bajirao Mastani star said to IANS.

Even his co-star Sara Ali Khan praised Rohit.

She said: "The way I define a masala Bollywood film is a Rohit sir film. I think it has every emotion, every flavor is depicted, and in a rather grand way, which makes watching a movie a fulfilling experience.

"There's drama, romance, good music, large sets, cars are flying. When you come with your friends and family for two hours you get fully transported into his grand larger-than-life world which makes the cinema-going experience totally memorable and fully Paisa vasool," Sara said.

On the work front, Ranveer is currently in London shooting for '83, which traces India's historic victory at the 1983 cricket World Cup. While Ranveer portrays the team's captain Kapil Dev, Deepika plays his wife Romi. This is Ranveer and Deepika's first film together after their wedding last year.

The cast is led by Ranveer Singh as captain Kapil Dev, Tahir Raj Bhasin as Sunil Gavaskar, Saqib Saleem as Mohinder Amarnath, Ammy Virk as Balwinder Sandhu, Jiiva as Krishnamachari Srikkanth, Sahil Khattar as Syed Kirmani, Chirag Patil as Sandeep Patil, Adinath Kothare as Dilip Vengsarkar, Dhairya Karwa as Ravi Shastri, Dinker Sharma as Kirti Azad, Jatin Sarna as Yashpal Sharma, Harrdy Sandhu as Madan Lal, Nishant Dahhiya as Roger Binny, R Badree as Sunil Valson and the Coach PR Man Singh to be played by Pankaj Tripathi. '83 is being co-produced by Madhu Mantena, Sajid Nadiadwala and Reliance Entertainment. The movie is slated to hit the screens on April 10, 2020.

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