Padmavati: Is Ranveer Singh seeing a psychiatrist to un-become Alauddin Khilji?

Ranveer Singh is one of the few actors in the current crop who's known to take on a role and delve into it with complete, unwavering commitment. He puts himself through pain and difficulties to experience emotions that a character goes through, often letting all of it take a toll on him. We’ve heard something from an inside source that makes one wonder just how far this star is going to push himself!

Turns out, to play Alauddin Khilji, a menacing, cruel anti-hero in Sanjay Bhansali’s’ Padmavati, Ranveer explored such hidden depths of negativity that he has actually had to see a shrink to get back to his ‘normal’ self. Our source says, “ Ranveer actually has his friends worried. To play Alauddin Khilji, he has been researching and exploring extreme negativity. He is a friendly, warm young man, like all of us. To become Khilji, he took the same route as he did to play Peshwa Bajirao. He locked himself up in his apartment, prepped and stayed in the head-space for weeks. Getting out of this dark, intimidating mindset wasn’t easy for him. The film has also been shot for almost a year now, so sustaining the Khilji persona was very challenging. It affected his reactions and behavior towards people. Which is why, his friends advised him to get help in emerging beyond Khilji. He is going to a psychiatrist to get rid of the Khilji influences.”

Ranveer’s demeanour on the sets of Padmavati has already been spoken about. There have been times when he would walk in his costume and overcome by a dark mood, ensuring that no one comes close to him or makes conversation. The decision to visit a psychiatrist seems to be a final recourse. He has been taking holidays after each schedule of this magnum opus and has reportedly bought himself a posh luxury car to cheer himself up. In fact, observing his recent photos clicked by paparazzi, seem to show a pensive Ranveer.

It’s not surprising that he has gone to a negative extreme for this challenging and iconic part in his mentor Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film. In preparation for the third act of Bajirao Mastani, Ranveer had made himself ill to feel the character’s trauma, triggering convulsions. Ranveer had actually blacked out on the film’ sets during the third act ( where Bajirao experiences a fatal illness ), which saps away his strength, leaving his director Sanjay Leela Bhansali and the entire film’s unit anxious.

Witnesses from the set say that his eyes had rolled back, and his veins seemed to be popping out. He had a fit of sorts, which had made the film’s unit so worried that they rushed him to the home of local political dignitary and to seek medical help. Three hours later, when Ranveer woke up, he had no memory of all that had happened; he had built such a deep connect with Peshwa Bajirao’s suffering that the trauma actually had an adverse physical reaction on him.

Ranveer has pushed the envelope for Lootera too. As the film’s protagonist suffers a gun - shot wound and limps for a long time with this severe injury, Ranveer wanted to experience its searing pain. So he made an eye popping choice. He chose to staple his sides, and walk with the staples attached to his body to bring authenticity to his character. For nearly 50 percent of the film’s shoot, in faraway mountain locations, Ranveer Singh had the sides of his body stapled and continued to deliver on his character’s tragic journey.

 Now to play Alauddin Khilji, he has taken his preparation to a scary new level altogether.