The toughest task on the internet, on any given day, is to defend Ranbir Kapoor. He is popularly considered to be one of the finest actors of the generation, having headlined some of the most personal films of the times, but Ranbir is also fast emerging as a notoriously polarising public figure. And sometimes all it takes to cement the narrative is - believe it or not - a lipstick. In the last three years, Ranbir has appeared more in Twitter trends than films, an amusing track record for an actor who isn't even on social media, at least officially. With every release that Ranbir has had post pandemic - and he has had three so far starting with Shamshera, Brahmastra and Tu Jhooti Mein Makkar-the actor has had a controversy attached. There is no film which can have a muted release, no interview in which a section won't be hurt. But is he always to be blamed? Just like his films, Ranbir's range of offending people has also been diverse. He finds himself having a rare distinction of being an actor attacked by the right wing (for eating beef) and also by feminists for his comments on his female co-stars, especially actor wife Alia Bhatt. There is no left or right for Ranbir. He sits on the center of unified outrage. His first release, Shamshera, for example, had him face the heat when Alia announced that they were expecting a baby. That he was ten years elder to Alia, who was 29 when the announcement was made, led to the narrative that the actress was perhaps too young to be a mother, too young to realise that her career might be dented, too young to 'protest' against the demands of patriarchy to have a child. Ranbir was the quintessential Kapoor brat; Alia was a damsel with no agency and internet was Sigmund Freud. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Alia Bhatt 💛 (@aliaabhatt) The psychological deep dive continued-and was reignited-when the couple's first film together was up for release, Brahmastra. During its promotions, Ranbir joked about Alia, who was heavily pregnant by then, that she has "phaeloed", pointedly at her baby bump. He later apologised for his joke, which he said may have "triggered" someone, and added that he loves his wife "with everything that I have in my life". "I spoke to Alia about it and she really laughed it off and she didn’t mind it. But I do have a bad sense of humour and sometimes it falls flat on my own face. So I am sorry if I have hurt anyone with it,” he had said. While a major section interpreted Ranbir's comments as him body shaming his wife, another noted that it was a seemingly inappropriate joke, which blew out of proportion. The uproar was the start of what would actually dominate news cycle and trigger countless think pieces months later- Ranbir's lipstick comment. In a viral video, Alia Bhatt gave a glimpse of how she applies her lipstick and said that Ranbir, who was her then-boyfriend, would ask her to "wipe it off" because he liked her natural lip colour. This one line by Alia, said in a casual manner, led to a rather harsh and deeply intrusive hashtag on Twitter- #FreeAlia. Ranbir was, yet again, the controlling, evil boyfriend, whose evolution from a man child to a full-blown toxic man was finally underlined with a lipstick colour. It didn't matter that lovers will always act as per their own rules, liking and preference for each other. One is fair to criticise Ranbir though, assuming that he is a controlling boyfriend. But to paint their relationship in broad strokes is where the internet goes wrong. It is a judgment too harsh, too intrusive. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Alia Bhatt 💛 (@aliaabhatt) The uproar had reached such a peak that Alia's mother Soni Razdan had to share a cryptic post, writing, "What’s seeming increasingly idiotic: Cancel culture. People deciding for other people what is wrong with their lives and then everyone jumping into some discussion or the other about things that actually have nothing to do with them! Funny times we live in." The lipstick comment was preceded by another Alia remark, who had revealed that Ranbir does not like it when she raises her voice in anger. "He thinks it’s not fair and it’s important to be kind even when you are unhappy." But this comment too, came under scanner as Ranbir being a manipulative husband. So much of the "bad boy" image that Ranbir Kapoor has today finds traces in his decade-long bad press. The internet is only amplifying what is easily accessible online, furthering his image. To a generation that is logging in, Ranbir's archive is of a man who was labeled "Casanova", "cheater" and arrogant. So, even if he says something that may not be inappropriate, his own past-or at least the image of it-will colour the way people will view his opinion. Stark contrast, someone like superstar Shah Rukh Khan has also made comments in his more than 30-years of public speaking which have not aged well-or some which were inappropriate even for the time-yet, he will never be put under the same scrutiny as his larger image, his countless other comments will always help override some of his bad jokes. For films, content is king, but for actors, context is king. The biggest proof of heavy prejudice against Ranbir is how his progressive statements about sharing parental duties with Alia and wanting to ensure she was back to work within months of delivering their child as he considered it his duty towards fans of Alia, whom he called "the most important actor in the country" didn't make any noise on the internet. It can obviously be argued that one right doesn't cancel the wrong, but that Ranbir's evolved and liberal opinions fail to be part of public discourse shows people aren't willing to give a chance to those aspects of the actor that challenge their perception of him. Some of Ranbir's movies too, and especially his characters, haven't passed the woke-test, blurring the art and the artistes line further, making Ranbir an equally complicated figure even on-screen. It is like an entire generation is behaving with Ranbir Kapoor the way perhaps Konkona Sensharma would 10 years after the events of Wake up Sid: The naivety, the wonderment of the boy has given way to frustration. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Alia Bhatt 💛 (@aliaabhatt) In an interview with Bollywood Bubble, Ranbir was perhaps his most candid when he was asked if he feels "judged" because he had always been honest about his personal life and past relationships. "I am an actor, people can say anything about me, good or bad. What matters to me is that they should like my movies. My focus, hardwork, energies are towards making a good film. "It really doesn't bother me if somebody b*tches about me, says something bad about me. It doesn't boil my blood. It reaches me, but I take it with a pinch of salt. I became the poster boy of a Casanova, of a cheater. People have heard somebody's perspective, somebody's point of view, they haven't heard mine and don't think they will ever hear also. I am here to do my job, be an actor," he had said. As Ranbir now gears up for his fourth release since pandemic, Animal, it will be best to keep a track of the box office and Twitter trends. The film, which is directed by the controversial Kabir Singh maker Sandeep Reddy Vanga, will possibly sit on a potential gold mine of controversies. The bad boy image could be reiterated, but that's one thing that Ranbir Kapoor likely doesn't want to wipe it off.
