Ranveer Singh Bhavnani is an Indian film actor who appears in Hindi films. After completing a bachelor's degree from Indiana University, Bloomington, Singh returned to India to pursue a career in film. He made his acting debut in 2010 with a leading role in Yash Raj Films' romantic comedy Band Baaja Baaraat. The film emerged as a critical and commercial success, earning Singh a Filmfare Award in t...Ranveer Singh Bhavnani is an Indian film actor who appears in Hindi films. After completing a bachelor's degree from Indiana University, Bloomington, Singh returned to India to pursue a career in film. He made his acting debut in 2010 with a leading role in Yash Raj Films' romantic comedy Band Baaja Baaraat. The film emerged as a critical and commercial success, earning Singh a Filmfare Award in the Best Male Debut category.
Singh went on to star in the romantic drama Lootera (2013), Sanjay Leela Bhansali's tragic romance Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela (2013), his biggest commercial successes to that point, and in the action-drama Gunday (2014). In 2015, he starred in the ensemble comedy-drama Dil Dhadakne Do (2015), and portrayed Bajirao in the historical romance Bajirao Mastani, one of the highest-grossing Bollywood films, for which he garnered critical acclaim and won the Filmfare Award for Best Actor.
Singh was born on 6 July 1985 into a Sindhi family to Anju and Jagjit Singh Bhavnani. His grandparents, Sunder Singh Bhavnani and Chand Burke, moved to Mumbai from Karachi, Sindh, during the Partition of India. He has an elder sister named Ritika Bhavnani. Singh is the maternal cousin of actress Sonam Kapoor and producer Rhea Kapoor, daughters of actor Anil Kapoor and wife Sunita Kapoor (n'e Bhavnani). Singh explains that he dropped his surname Bhavnani, since he felt that the name would have been "too long, too many syllables", thus downplaying his brand as a "saleable commodity".
Singh always aspired to be an actor, participating in several school plays and debates. Once when he had gone for a birthday party, his grandmother asked him to dance and entertain her. Singh remembers that he suddenly jumped in the lawn and started dancing to the song "Chumma Chumma" from the 1991 action film, Hum. He felt the thrill of performing and was interested in acting and dancing. However, after he joined H.R. College of Commerce and Economics in Mumbai, Singh realised that getting a break in the film industry was not at all easy, as it was mostly people with a film background who got these opportunities. Feeling that the idea of acting was "too far-fetched", Singh focused on creative writing. He went to the United States where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Indiana University.
Singh's next release was Lootera (2013), a period romance, written and directed by Vikramaditya Motwane, and co-starring Sonakshi Sinha. An adaptation of O. Henry's short story The Last Leaf, Lootera was critically acclaimed. Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN wrote that Singh "brings a quiet sensitivity to Varun, and occasionally a smoldering intensity. Offering a finely internalized performance, he leaves a lasting impression." However, Lootera performed poorly at the box office.
As of October 2016, Singh has completed work on Aditya Chopra's romance Befikre opposite Vaani Kapoor. Singh is filming for the historical drama Padmavati his third collaboration with Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Deepika Padukone in which he will play the tyrannical ruler Alauddin Khilji.
