Ranveer Brar on acting debut with 'Modern Love': I thought if not now, then never

He was always fascinated with the world of filmmaking but celebrity chef Ranveer Brar says he wasn’t planning to become an actor until filmmaker Hansal Mehta offered him a part in the upcoming Prime Video anthology ”Modern Love Mumbai”.

The Mumbai chapter of the beloved US original anthology series features six stories, exploring different shades of love and relationships. The Lucknow-born chef, who has been a popular face on TV and digital medium with his cooking shows, features in Mehta’s short ”Baai” along with Pratik Gandhi.

“I have been extremely fascinated with filmmaking. I have produced documentaries, I love editing. I never thought I would act, but I always had a lot of respect for the craft because there are just so many inhibitions to shed, especially in today’s times when you want to just be inside your shell. ”I wasn’t planning to become an actor, but the love for the medium, the respect for the craft, the comfort around Pratik and Hansal sir ticked all the boxes for me. I thought if not now, then never. This was the perfect opportunity, the right time,” Brar told PTI.

What also helped Brar ease into acting was the equation he shared with the ”Scam 1992” star, he said.

The duo had previously worked together in one of Brar’s shows and already had a rapport, which led to a natural chemistry on the short, which features them as a same-sex couple.

”I have made him cook in one of the shows, so we knew each other. There was a certain synergy in terms of where we came from, ideologies and values. There was an ease of not having to explain ourselves. I didn’t have to start by setting a background, he knew where I was coming from and we took it from there.

“The calm that he carries around is for real, not for the camera. For me, who was doing this for the first time, you need someone who genuinely has that aura and Pratik did.” The short follows the story of Manzu (Gandhi), a gay man who grew up in a conservative household and is torn between the love for his partner, played by Brar, and his ailing and ever doting grandmother, Baai.

”When he visits her in their ancestral home, the past catches up with him as the pain and pangs of his childhood take him back to a reality he had long left behind. After all these years, will Manzu find the strength to tell his truth to Baai?” the official synopsis of the short read.

The 44-year-old, who also plays a chef in the film, said he was touched by the ”sensitive” script of ”Baai”, written by Mehta and Ankur Pathak.

“Sensitivity is the underlying aspect of the story. When I got into the part, I felt the nuances, I understood someone torn between love and fear. The conflict here is of a person who is trying to be accepted in a society which is not ready for it.” Brar said at its heart, ”Baai” has a ”beautiful interweaving” of culture, joint families, traditional Indian values and of ”rebelling against them”.

”It is not just an individual’s journey. It is the journey of us that has crossed this curve over the last 25 years to get where we are. It is a powerful thing to say, but the way it comes across, it is simple, it is just for you to feel,” he added. Produced by Pritish Nandy Communications, ”Modern Love Mumbai” will premiere on May 13 on Prime Video.