Did Ranbir Kapoor say that Bombay Velvet flop has made him 'insecure'? Not really

What’s the first word that comes to your mind at the very mention of Ranbir Kapoor? Cute? Muffin? Or if you are into English slaughtering, ‘adorbs’ maybe? Considering his primary business is Bollywood, you’d think Kapoor wouldn’t mind at all. After all, Shah Rukh Khan claimed exclusive rights to ‘cute’ and stayed the biggest star in Bollywood for the longest possible time. But how about “insecure”? Especially after Bombay Velvet didn’t set the box-office on fire? Recently, NDTV dug up an old interview where Kapoor had spoken about his insecurities, framed it in the context of Bombay Velvet and published it. The headline read, “Ranbir Kapoor: Don’t Know What’s Happening With Career."  Hindustan Times too picked up the same story and ran it with the headline: “Is Ranbir Kapoor feeling insecure after Bombay Velvet debacle?” [caption id=“attachment_2258698” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Ranbir Kapoor. Reuters[/caption] It begins with the following lines: “Ranbir Kapoor’s first film in two years opened to empty theatres and poor reviews last Friday but even before the Bombay Velvet debacle, the 32-year-old actor said he was ‘insecure.’ The quote attributed to Kapoor, says, “There’s a sense of insecurity that’s starting to trend inside of me. I’m feeling a sense of friction where I really don’t know what’s happening with my career. I know what’s happening with my work but I don’t know what’s going to happen with my career.” The article also says that Kapoor had told this to NDTV before the film released. The video accompanying the news piece shows a clip of him saying the above to NDTV. Neither the article uploaded online, nor the clip shows a date as to when the interview was conducted. It doesn’t say if Kapoor had made the statement in reference to Bombay Velvet. It neither shows or mentions the question to which Kapoor came up with this particular answer. The rest of the interview doesn’t figure in this particular piece of news put out on 12 May. In effect, NDTV took a quote completely out of context to make its own suggestion about Kapoor’s career. In fact, just before the clip airs Kapoor’s quote, a voiceover asks, “What does it mean for the country’s youngest superstar? It’s his first film in two years and every fan was looking forward to it.” Kapoor’s quote is played immediately after. If you were to look at the video in isolation, you’d probably think that Kapoor is crestfallen after the failure of Bombay Velvet and is saying that he is insecure about his career. The headline of the online article too suggests that this admission comes after the film. Basically, the entire news piece intends to paint Kapoor was a sorry failure, unsure of his future, confused about his own talent. Like most other humans in other professions, stars too come with their burden of challenges and insecurities but rarely speak about it. We now know, why perhaps, they don’t. Logically, there should be no reason to concoct the idea that Kapoor is insecure following Bombay Velvet’s dry run at the box office. Apart from playing the textbook romantic lead to the hilt, Kapoor has  also taken little detours. Just two years after he debuted, he did Rocket Singh, a film that could have been a huge risk for a new comer. That Rocket Singh - Salesman of the Year was a fantastic film, where Kapoor played the titular role like a dream is a fact very few people question. So right after the smashing hit that Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani was, came Besharam, where Kapoor was stripped of all Bollywood poster-boy sophistication and turned into a tapori. Kapoor’s first release in two years was Roy. In that film too, Kapoor experimented with not just his look, but also his character. And now we have Bombay Velvet. In this film too, Kapoor has experimented not only with his styling, but his a character no one imagines he could play. For once, it doesn’t feel Kapoor has been miscast as Johnny Balraj in Bombay Velvet. A combination of factors made the film fail. Yet, Kapoor, played the temperamental, egotistic yet mushy Balraj to the hilt. Given how open he is to experimenting - always the mark of a good actor - we should have no reason to suggest that he is insecure about his career following the failure of one film. So suggesting that Bombay Velvet has made Kapoor insecure about his own career is grossly unfair to say the least.