Padmaavat: Ranveer Singh talks about winning praises for his role of Alauddin Khilji

Ranveer Singh, who has proved his acting prowess time and again, once again took the audience with a surprise with his commendable performance as Alauddin Khilji in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmaavat.

The actor has left the audience spellbound as he portrayed the role of Khilji making it his cruelest best performance till date.

While the actor has been winning accolades, Ranveer has admitted of being skeptical about audience's reaction to his character and performance initially.

However, the Befirke actor also stated that he is overwhelmed with the audience's response.

"I feel like I am walking on clouds. There were enough people who were advising me to be careful. It is scary to take on a part like this. It is such a big risk that it can be your undoing. But I went with Mr Bhansali's conviction and gave my whole and soul to this part. I am just relieved that my risk has paid such dividends," Ranveer was quoted as saying.

Talking about his character Alauddin Khilji, Ranveer said, he moulded himself to Bhansali's vision of the character.

"As an actor, I need to be honest with the script. I used the script as my textbook. For the most part, I take my cues from what is written. The character that Mr Bhansali and Prakash Kapadia created, I tried to do the best I could with it.

"In fact, I wanted to make Khilji darker and even more of an extremist. Mr Bhansali really moulded me this time. In 'Bajirao', he allowed me to interpret but this time he was hands-on. I built on what was written and how he directed me," said Ranveer.

He further said that the costume drama was not easy to shoot. The many delays led to the film being shot in almost one go -- in 40 plus days.

"Apart from what was happening, the actual shooting process was difficult due to the delays. I was shooting for more than 40 days straight, which is unheard of in a costume drama, especially on a Sanjay Leela Bhansali film. It is draining at every level, physically mentally, emotionally."

In his previous collaborations with Bhansali, there would be a break every six to eight days so that the crew could recuperate but that was not the option this time.

"My brain had turned into mush, my body had turned into pulp, I had no feeling in my muscles. I kept pushing but physically, I was breaking. But when you have your back against the wall, you need to keep digging deeper. It was the angst that kept me going."

Constantly being in character took its toll on Ranveer. The darkness of the character, he says, started to creep up on him, a feeling so intense that he lost touch with himself for a while.

"I try to be as honest to my craft as I can possibly be. The dark person that Khilji was, I had to become that from the inside. I had to feel all those things and that can be unhealthy. The shooting process was non-stop. I would put on the make-up for two hours and shoot for 12-14 hours straight and repeat it the next day.

"I lost touch with myself. I realised that something was wrong. I had become uneasy, unstable.

So I first confided in my mother and my best friend. They started spending time with me after the shoot. They brought me back to myself. I was lucky to have that kind of support."

While the release of "Padmaavat" was stalled by Rajput groups over the portrayal of queen Padmavati, post-release, the film has attracted criticism in certain quarters over the unidimensional portrayal of Khilji as an evil, imbalanced ruler, which some historians say is inaccurate.
However, despite all the protests, Padmaavat has managed to take over the box office with a storm and is minting crores.

Also starring Deepika Padukone and Shahid Kapoor in lead roles, Padmaavat was release on January 25 and managed to enter the coveted Rs 100 crore club in its opening weekend itself.

(with PTI inputs)