With Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, Ranveer Singh has finally found the star vehicle he was searching for. But what happens now?

In Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, Ranveer plays the flashy, West Delhi Punjabi boy Rocky Randhawa with a tone that remains consistently infectious and delightful. The flamboyant off-screen persona of the actor — filmy, over the top, no holds barred — wonderfully marries the theatrics of Rocky. It is exactly the kind of film Ranveer needed at this point, which is unabashedly Bollywood, with song and dance, tears and laughter, romance and heartbreak; every ingredient of a hit Hindi film is present. The actor, too, plays Rocky with such remarkable ease and confidence, it is impossible to not think if the role was written especially for him, designed around his energy and image.

This is also where, perhaps, Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani’s faced its biggest hurdle when the film opened on Friday to middling collections of Rs 11 cr. In the industry, the opening of a film is directly proportional to a star’s pull. The bigger the star, the bigger the numbers — as it shows a set audience which will go for a film with blind trust, no matter the reviews. From the second day onwards, till the last, the film then runs on its merit as word-of-mouth kicks in.

The film’s Friday came at a time when Ranveer was not only going through his biggest career slump but also a shift in audience’s perception of him. His lull cannot be divorced from his increasingly divided public image. The same energy, vibe and the ability to relentlessly entertain, which many dubbed refreshing in the beginning, had kind of turned against the actor, with a section experiencing a Ranveer Singh fatigue. Unlike him, Alia Bhatt, the other star of the film, was still riding on a wave of successful films when Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani hit cinemas.

The film underperformed on its opening day, as it was expected to cross Rs 15 crore mark by trade considering the coming together of Karan Johar, Alia and Ranveer. To put in context, the numbers of this big musical were simply Rs 2 crore more than that of Karthik Aaryan-Kiara Advani’s humble romantic drama. The expectations from Ranveer Singh are naturally higher.

It isn’t a criticism or a comment on his craft at all, which the actor has been displaying since his stunning 2010 debut Band Baaja Baaraat. But it is imperative to examine his post Sanjay Leela Bhansali-peak career phase, which is a solid, strange before and after. In the years before the pandemic, he experienced his best ever phase, where the actor delivered three consecutive big films, each different from the other. While he turned the menacing Khilji for Bhansali’s blockbuster Padmaavat in 2018, he transformed himself into a Rohit Shetty funny cop for the super hit Simmba. Within months, he surprised everyone with his remarkable turn as Mumbai-street rapper Murad in Gully Boy, leading the Zoya Akhtar film to massive box office glory.

But post pandemic, it has been a wildly different story. His first release in this phase was Kabir Khan’s sports drama 83, which released in 2021 December after several delays to COVID and faced an unexpected roadblock: the third wave of the pandemic. The film still crossed Rs 100 cr, but was far from a success. His next, Yash Raj Films-backed comedy drama Jayeshbhai Jordaar wrapped its lifetime under Rs 15 cr, a shocking figure for a star like Ranveer. But it was Rohit Shetty’s big Christmas release last year, which ended its run at a dismal Rs 35 cr, that proved to be his biggest disappointment.

It isn’t that Ranveer, the actor, didn’t shine in those films. Except for Cirkus, which was universally panned, both 83 and Jayeshbhai Jordaar earned him acclaim with critics applauding his non-caricature turn as Kapil Dev and his earnest attempt to play a simple Gujarati man standing against gender inequality, Jayeshbhai. Even when the star was missing in action, the actor was always present.

But it seemed the audience, who used to get excited at his ability to switch effortlessly between genres, was growing indifferent towards him, as one after the other his films lacked the biggest deliverable needed: king-sized entertainment. On paper, these choices fit in Ranveer’s attempt to finely balance between commercial and content. So, if an 83 was his Padmaavat, Jayeshbhai was another Gully Boy, while Shetty’s Cirkus was an addition to the Simmba universe. But on screen, these choices lacked magic. In a matter of two years, there was a question mark on brand Ranveer Singh.

But just as the chips looked down for Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani on Friday, the film finally picked up from day two as it went on to record an impressive weekend collection of Rs 46 cr, cashing in on its excellent word-of-mouth. For Ranveer, Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani will be an important film to salvage and ultimately bounce back at the box office.

It’s still early to say where the film will finish, but what the movie has done is definitely change the tide–and perception–for Ranveer, as his off-screen persona, which had taken a beating in the last two years, has finally found a beating heart among the audience, again. People can’t stop raving about his performance in the film, with many also softening up to his over-the-top real-life antics, given the actor has managed to make them fall in love with his on-screen flamboyant avatar. The fracture seems to have been fixed and the actor would only hope for it to be healed completely before he arrives with his next and open to the expectations people have of him.

Because in many ways, Ranveer’s career slump is like him being inside another dhol. He is half submerged, but his feet are still moving. He is still choosing well, he is still aiming for the craft– now as long as Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani keeps playing the music, Ranveer will keep dancing.