Kishore Kumar's look inspired my Bombay Velvet look: Ranbir Kapoor

“Johnny Balraj, the character I play is more than a fighter; he’s a street cage fighter. I think the character is more about this boy who wants to become a big shot in life, he wants to make money in whatever way it comes.” Kapoor said about his character.

The actor said that Kishore Kumar’s look, especially the curly hair, was an inspiration for his look in the film.

When asked about his favorite actresses of those times, he said, “It would be lovely to go back to the 50’s and the actresses would be Nargis, Waheeda Rahman, and Madhubala. All of them are so beautiful, such great actresses, so much of grace.”

On the criterion he looks for while selecting a script he said, “Saawariya (his debut movie) was accepted not because of the script, I did it for Sanjay Leela Bhansali. He is my mentor; I even assisted him in 'Black'. Over the years you develop your outlook. The stories you like, the characters you like keep on evolving.”

He clarified that Bombay Velvet is not entirely based on the novel. “The world of Bombay Velvet has been adapted from Mumbai Fables, but the story is completely different. Anurag and his team of writers worked for eight years,” he said.

The film's female lead Anushka said she had to train for two months (Vocal Training) for the film.

"The way a jazz singer sings is actually very different from the regular songs that we do and because I was playing one such character in this Anurag Kashyap movie it had to look seamless. The songs are an intricate part of the screenplay and do not appear just for the sake of it,” she said.

Anushka kept her silence on the World Cup controversy concerning her boyfriend Virat Kohli while her co-star termed it as “unnecessary”, “insensitive” and a “joke blown out of proportion”.

Both the actors refrained from any comments on the ongoing Salman Khan saga.

(Reporting by Sudipto Maity, Image by Sounak Choudhury/IBNS)