The world may be talking about whether his character in Rockstar is inspired by rock-n-roll legend Johnny Cash, but the promotional activities for this Imtiaz Ali film are making us wonder if Ranbir Kapoor’s inspirations lie a little closer to
home. Much like a young political scion who likes to visit the homes of the rural poor to forge a connection with his electorate, Ranbir has also been dropping into some rural homes in North India.
Most Bollywood films do try to capture the market in the North as it is a source of the biggest revenues, after Mumbai. But Ranbir brought his own twist to the promotional campaign. “Ranbir refused to go the Tier I towns and cities for the Punjab leg of Rockstar’s campaign. Instead, he chose to go to the rural areas and local dhabas, where he and co-star Nargis Fakhri mingled with the locals. In fact, Ranbir (who claims never even to have boiled water in his own home) cooked a full Punjabi meal at these dhabas.
“Rockstar anyway has urban appeal, so the urban crowd will catch up with it,” says Ranbir of his rationale. “But I wanted this opportunity to be with the people who miss out on a chance to interact with us because they are cut off from the cities.”