Here’s an honest confession: even though the movie, back then, was titled ‘Padmavati’ – it wasn’t Deepika Padukone that caught my eye when Sanjay Leela Bhansali revealed his cast’s first look. It was the one and only Ranveer Singh, the uninhibited madness of Alauddin Khilji, that had my heart cartwheeling across the room.
The unkempt, dishevelled and menacing aura of Khilji had me wondering how great an actor one had to be to have his eyes shoot daggers even as you stared at his face on paper.
My brain was immediately transported to the last evil onscreen character that had falling in love with his anti-hero personality – Scar from The Lion King.
Evil, menacing, terrifying, threatening, and yet something so powerful and royal about him – that you can’t help but love to hate him.
Cut to when I had a glimpse of Khilji in the song Khalibali from the movie and well, it has since been established that Ranveer Singh can do no wrong when it comes to the level of energy he brings to his performance on screen.
The song, since then, amassing more than 60 million views on YouTube, has been meme-ed to no end. Rest assured, it is definitely going down as one of Ranveer’s most brilliant songs yet!
T-Series recently released the making of the song on YouTube, to give viewers a glimpse of all the behind-the-scenes action that made Khalibali the glorious masterpiece that it is today. Watching the choreography legend, Ganesh Acharya, take Ranveer through the movements and expressions of Khilji’s character in the song will immediately make you wish you were there on set!
It’s about time you move over Malhari – thanks to Padmaavat, Khalibali is the new power anthem in town!
