Playing Bajirao was a huge gamble: Ranveer Singh

Ranveer Singh is just five years old in the film industry and yet, he took a leap of faith by playing a historical character on screen in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Bajirao Mastani.
In the film, Ranveer, 30, plays Maratha warrior Peshwa Bajirao.
"At a critical stage of my career, giving more than one year to a project, not doing anything else, shaving my head... The time this project took, in that much time you can do three films. It's a big gamble... It's a risk but somewhere I knew the pay off would be worth it," Ranveer said.
"When I decided to do it, a lot of well-wishers, advisers asked me if I was sure about doing the film. And now that the trailer is out they see it, they understand why I did it," he said.
"I always wanted to do a character of a 'yodha'. I also want to play a gangster. But in my eighth film I got a chance to play a maha-yodha, it is a moment of joy," he said.
"My name is Ranveer and it means yodha, warrior. I think I was born to play this part. I like the genre of historical drama so I was waiting to do a film like this," he added.
For the actor, every day was a challenge while being on the sets of Bajirao Mastani.
"At the narration level, you understand it's a challenge as there are war sequences, emotional drama, the canvas is huge, and all this would require lot of hard work.
"There is no simple day. In Sanjay Leela Bhansali's film everything is grand, huge... like getting ready used to take two-and-a-half hours," he added.
The actor thinks there is no formula to success.
"You should trust your creative instincts. I was very excited about this film as it's a powerful story," he said.