I don’t envy movie star Ranbir Kapoor. Try as he might, he cannot escape being a red flag for internet users at large. Despite being a top-billed actor, and a genuinely super talent, he just can’t find love or acceptance from India’s younger urban female audiences, with the exception of wife Alia Bhatt of course.
Yet, I have to admit I really enjoyed Kapoor’s interview with Zerodha’s Nikhil Kamath, on the latter’s YouTube show ‘People by WTF’. I haven’t seen the actor open up so brazenly in an interview ever; he is famously distrusting of Indian media. Neither does he allow for any narrative control via his social media, like almost every other actor of the current crop. Kapoor laid bare his dark spaces and great vulnerability, and kudos to Kamath for bringing this out. That said, I’m not so sure Kapoor’s critics are any happier. They still see him as a massive red flag. He will never be in the black for them.
Much of this has to do with Kapoor’s attitude towards women. Despite him opening up about being scarred by his parents’fights, and being sympathetic to his mother, it has hardly turned him into a feminist. He exhibits patriarchy in spades when he states wife Alia has changed more for him than he has for her. He also states he was labelled a cheat because he dated “two extremely successful women”, forgetting he is to Bollywood’s manor born. Also, he has in previous interviews admitted to being unfaithful and immature in relationships. Kapoor cleverly sidesteps the question about men’s mental health in the wake of feminism and issues regarding women’s mental health. But no brickbats were spared for his admission of following Sanatan Dharma. Most watchers wrote of his new penchant for saffron as a PR stunt for his upcoming film Ramayana.
Never mind which side of the divide you are on, the gentlemen’s talk around local brands is what truly wins my heart.
In the video, the actor complimented the entrepreneur on his slides, which had his initials on them. Kamath then went on to name the brand, a very small Pune company called Cuero. Kamath said he found them on Instagram and has been buying from them since, adding that their leather is far superior to any of the international labels he has bought from, including Gucci and Balenciaga. Further, Kamath said he is a big supporter of homegrown brands and Indian companies.
This is marvellous. Kamath is nothing short of a modern-day hero himself. At 37, he is a first-generation entrepreneur (retail stockbroking and asset management) who made it to the Forbes billionaire list in 2023. He is famously a grade 10-dropout, has no formal degree and has previously worked in a call centre. A nod from him, sitting across a mega Bollywood personality (the video has garnered 2.6 million views in eight days), can make or break any brand.
Cuero is a small artisanal handcrafted leather company co-founded by Sanjana Mate, who is also its creative head. Actor Shahid Kapoor and cricketer Ajinkya Rahane have worn its shoes for their respective shoots previously. In a week since the video, Cuero has garnered 10,000 more followers on Instagram. Kamath also stated he was hoping to invest in 11.11, among my favourite fashion labels, founded by the textile connoisseur Shani Himanshu and Mia Morikawa.
Kamath and Kapoor’s massive reach, turned this show into a green light. Go ahead and watch it.
X@namratazakaria