Ranveer Singh: 20 fun facts

THIS week, popular actor Ranveer Singh will celebrate his 33rd birthday. To mark the award-winning star turn­ing a year older on July 6, Eastern Eye decided to present 20 fun facts about him...

• Ranveer harboured dreams of becoming a cricketer as a youngster, but was rejected. He will be playing cricket legend Kapil Dev in a forthcoming film about India’s 1983 World Cup win.
• Ranveer holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Indiana University in Bloomington, USA.
• Ranveer worked for a few years in advertising as a copywriter before leaving to pursue acting.
• Actors he looked up to growing up include Amitabh Bachchan, Govinda and Anil Kapoor.
• Leading ladies that Ranveer had a crush on as a youngster were Madhuri Dixit, Sonali Bendre and Raveena Tandon.
• His full name is Ranveer Singh Bhavnani. He dropped his last name because, according to him, it was too long and difficult to remember. Ranveer also reportedly thought of changing his first name as it sounded too similar to Ranbir.
• Ranbir Kapoor was actually the first choice for Band Baaja Baaraat. Ranveer gave a winning audition and was cast in the hit film.
• His film Lootera was based on 1907 O Henry short story The Last Leaf.
• The actor has always had a keen interest in rapping and will show off those skills in his forthcoming film Gully Boy. Based on real events, the story revolves around rappers from the Mumbai slums.
• He is a big fan of Arsenal football club.
• Ranveer’s dream role would be an emotional drama about a soldier in uniform or a superhero film. He would love to star in a remake of Amitabh Bachchan’s 1978 classic Don, but unfortunately for him Shah Rukh Khan already done that role.
• Sonam Kapoor is his maternal cousin. He is Sonam’s mother’s, sister’s son.
• The actor is a really big foodie and his favourite cuisine in Chinese.
• Although Ranveer believes that his style is original, he also admires the fashion sense of David Beckham and Lady Gaga.
•  A person Ranveer would want as a dinner guest is the late great filmmaker Stanley Kubrick.
• His forthcoming film Simmba is a remake of Telugu action film Temper, which marks the debut of Saif Ali Khan and Amrita Singh’s daughter Sara Ali Khan.
• n He recently lent his voice for Ryan Reynolds in the dubbed Hindi version of Deadpool 2.
•  Ranveer would like to work in an English language pro­ject in the west and is waiting for the right opportunity.
• The things in life Ranveer is most grateful for are his family and friends.
• The qualities he values most in a friendship are truth and honesty.