Actor Ranveer Singh’s homeosexual act with Jim Sarbh in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmaavat became one of the biggest talking points of the film. The mature handling of those portions by the director was also appreciated.
Now, Singh has strongly spoken in favour of the scrapping of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code which criminalizes homosexual activities. The actor was speaking at Off The Cuff chat event in Delhi yesterday.
While answering a question on whether he was apprehensive about indulging in homosexual acts in the film, he said, “I had no apprehensions. I am a very very liberal minded person. I honestly think Section 377 should be scrapped like yesterday. I had absolutely no apprehension. In fact, I thought it made the character more interesting, more layered and nuanced (sic)."
He admitted that this aspect might bother conservative minds. “It adds a facet to him that could be chilling to, perhaps, conservative viewing audience. But I am a liberal, so I had zero apprehensions. In fact, I was quite excited. I was like, who is playing my lover?” he laughed.
Singh also revealed how he had suggested Sarbh for the role. “I saw this film which Jim had done called Neerja (2016). He played the main antagonist in it and I was completely blown by his performance. I suggested Jim’s name to Mr Bhansali. He sent him on an audition and, boom, he was in the film. It turned out to be one of the most delightful co-actor experiences,” added Singh.
During the same conversation, when the host jokingly said that Singh looked enthusiastic to perform the act with Sarbh, he jokingly said, “I was enthusiastic to do it with this sexy bawa (Parsi) boy Jim Sarbh.”
Watch Singh speaking about the homosexual angle with Sarbh: