Ranbir portrayed Sikh salesman better than expected

Mumbai, Dec 12 (IANS) Writer Jaideep Sahni is all praise for Ranbir Kapoor's performance in the just released "Rocket Singh: Salesman Of The Year" and says the actor's portrayal of the protagonist is better than what was etched out in the script.

"We had certain expectation in terms of performance. When he started acting, it turned out to be better than our character in the script. It was a bonus," Sahni told IANS.

The writer says he always had Ranbir in mind for the role.

"When I finished writing, we needed someone of a certain age group and keeping the character in mind we had certain expectations and Ranbir was the closest of what we conceived of the character," said Sahni.

The film is directed by Shimit Amin, who had wielded the megaphone for "Chak De! India" that had Shah Rukh Khan in the main lead.

In this film, Ranbir plays Harpreet Singh Bedi who has just graduated with embarrassing marks. But the poor score doesn't stop him from dreaming about an exciting career.

"Rocket Singh..." shows how most people lead a dual life, said Sahni.

"It's neither a romantic nor an action film; it's a story about a simple salesman based in Mumbai. We wanted to show how a boy tackles his first job and new responsibilities, just after his college. The profession we chose was sales.

"This film is set in a work place. When we go to office, we speak in a common language and there is a certain way we behave. But when we go back home, we behave differently. In short, we all lead a dual life," he said.

Asked why the main protagonist is a Sikh, he said: "It's nothing to with ethnicity. We were thinking of a story and that's how a boy came to mind. Why should we follow a syllabus that says all the protagonists should be 'gora, chitta' north Indian Hindu male?"

The screenwriter of hits like "Chak De! India" and "Khosla Ka Ghosla" believes that there is always pressure on a writer irrespective of how your last film performed.

"The pressure is always there. If your last film hasn't done well, then you take lots of pressure to come back with a good one. If it has done well, then you have to do much better than that," said Sahni.

In the two-hour-20-minute film there are only three songs, which are written by Sahni.

Released Friday, the film has been made under the Yash Raj Films' banner.

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Rocket Singh - Salesman of the Year

Ranbir Kapoor Pictures