“I Saw Khilji As A Challenge For Me, As An Actor”: Ranveer Singh On Padmaavat

Bollywood star Ranveer Singh, who has registered his biggest opening day collection with Padmaavat, says most people had told him that a hero shouldn’t play the anti-hero.

Padmaavat, directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, registered opening day collections of 19 crore net, according to producers Bhansali Productions and Viacom18 Motion Pictures.

For Ranveer, whose previous best opening day records were for Gunday (Rs 16.12 crore net) and Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela (Rs 16 crore net), playing a merciless anti-hero Alauddin Khilji was a gamble.

Ranveer said in a statement to IANS: “It is extremely rare and overwhelming to get this kind of love from the audience. I’m grateful and touched that everyone has been so appreciative of my performance.”

While the critics have lauded that Ranveer has given one of the best villains to Bollywood through his performance, the actor said: “I will be honest — when I was offered Padmaavat, most people were of the opinion that a hero should not play the anti-hero.

“But I believed otherwise. I saw Khilji as a challenge for me, as an actor. And I wanted to take the challenge up. I went with the vision of Sanjay Leela Bhansali and my instinct of what I could achieve with Khilji.