I hate Bollywood. I hate it for showing me endless sequences of unrequited love stories, which turn into romances that cannot ever be found or replicated across a normal human lifetime. I hate Bollywood for making me feel like dream men could exist in the realms of reality, and with one dance number, they could end up becoming the greatest and most passionate loves of our lives. I hate Bollywood for enveloping me in the likes of icons such as Shah Rukh Khan, who to this day, remains the one person I'd donate a kidney to, if he were in need. But alas, I cannot hate Bollywood today. Because upon meeting Ranveer Singh, I've come to recognise that perhaps what's sold on screen really can transpire beyond it; and maybe, just maybe, this guy really does exist.
It's 8pm in Mumbai and we've just finished a long day of shooting for our cover. I'm tapping nervously on the sofa, shifting positions with a cocktail of anxiety and excitement brewing inside me. We're in a warehouse studio, inside one of the many plush green rooms and I'm awaiting (with baited breath) the entrance of Ranveer so we can begin our interview. A part of me cannot believe this moment is occurring. Just months before, I jokingly (but very passionately) said to Vanessa, our Creative and Production Group Director: Do you think we could get Ranveer Singh on a cover? I wanted to go where we've never been before: to Bollywood—and just like that, it happened. For doubters of the power of manifestation, I'm living proof it works. That, and having an amazing Creative Director. Now, it's October and I'm fidgeting with my pen, trying to swallow every last gulp of air I can muster before Ranveer walks in.
I can hear you asking. The truth is, this feeling isn't one of being struck at all, but rather, one of great anticipation. I've grown up on Bollywood movies; been raised on them, built and founded on them. A huge part of my soul derives from the whimsical fancies of them and I know in this, I'm not alone. Here in this room in Mumbai, I'm representing thousands, nay millions, nay of people who adore and celebrate Bollywood with the same reverence I do. It's also not lost on me that this will be Ranveer's debut on a Singaporean magazine cover, as the first-ever Bollywood celebrity to ever grace Singapore. It's a moment of history in the making, and not
