Ranbir Kapoor reveals his process for iconic ‘Rockstar’ character, ‘It can be dangerous’

Film Rockstar remains one of the most influential yet impactful films in Ranbir Kapoor’s career as his character Jordan follows a very dark path due to his past. However, in real life, Kapoor earlier claimed that he never had heartbreak and to connect with his character, the actor shared how he was trying to look for one.

The 2011 musical romantic film which was written-directed by Imtiaz Ali, featured Nargis Fakhri along with Moufid Aziz, Aditi Rao Hydari, Piyush Mishra, Shernaz Patel, Kumud Mishra and Shammi Kapoor in supporting roles.

During the promotions of Rockstar, Ranbir  revealed the reason behind agreeing to work in the film and how he connected with his character, Jordan. As per SBS, RK said, “In a very strange, bizarre way, I’ve never gone through heartbreak in my life. I know it’s a terrible feeling and I understood Imtiaz’s point of view, what he is trying to say through the film.”

Ranbir Kapoor further shared, “This character is a Jaat [a colloquial term used in India to connote a particularly wild, untamed person]. We did preparation to understand his life: where he comes from, the people he hangs out with, and the way he walks and the way he talks—all the physical attributes of this person. But I think what really connects me to this character was he was looking for heartbreak and somehow so I am.”

“The second half of this film is when he goes through a phase of self-destruction, of actual electricity flowing inside him and being short-tempered and being angry. I’m not that [person] so I resort to something they say is acting. You start building that. But [that process] can be dangerous because sometimes it is a fine line. I don’t want to become that person. I respect my fans. I try and sign every autograph book that comes before me. Jordan wouldn’t do that.”

He is actually a jatt boy from Delhi, a lower class jatt boy who lives in Pitampura. Now that boy comes from a different stratum of society, somebody who I haven’t met in my life. So, it is very hard for me to first get into his skin, physical appearance.

Imtiaz Ali (director of the film) and I went and spent a lot of time with a jatt family in Delhi. I guess as an actor it is very important for me to observe them, I can pick up certain nuances.

This is part method. These are superficial things like learning to play guitar because I am playing a musician. I mean that’s my job as an actor. If I don’t do these things, the audience will never believe me. There will be a sense of disconnect.

But I think more than that my process is really marrying the director’s mind because if a director has written a story, he knows it better than anybody. Yes, you bring in your own talent, experiences. But I think Imtiaz has been so gracious by sharing his experiences to help me as an actor to put in my work.

I think every film comes with different experiences, and challenges. You approach every role differently.

For example, for ‘Rocket Singh Salesman of the Year’, I never felt the need to prepare to be a salesman. I thought that is there in the script and that will come. I think that character reflected goodness, he was a good guy. So, what I did was I went to golden temple and I spent a night there all by myself because I thought I would get to know the Sikh culture well. There is a sense of very positive feeling you get, when you wake up there in the morning, when you see people doing seva, how they tie their turban, it’s a big deal for them.

So, every film has different ways that as an actor how you can connect to a character and what you can put to it.

On the work front, Ranbir Kapoor has a number of interesting projects lined up, that includes, Brahmastra, Animal, Shamshera with Luv Ranjan’s untitled film with Shraddha Kapoor.