Why Ranbir Kapoor doesn't have a nickname

Imtiaz Ali’s fourth film as a director, Rockstar, is gearing up for a November 11 release. It revolves around the 10-year metamorphosis of Janardan Jakar into rockstar Jordan. Talking about the transition, Ranbir Kapoor, who plays the lead, points out that to start with, his character is an
immature Jat boy from Pitampura in Delhi, studying in Hindu College.


“The girl (played by debutant Nargis Fakhri) he loves gives him the name Jordan. And because he’s a little bit of a wannabe, he finds it cool. Eventually, that’s the name the world knows him by, which in a way, not only epitomises his musical journey, but is also an homage to his love story,” points out Ranbir.


Ask the 27-year Bollywood star if he was known by any other name during his ‘growing’ years and Ranbir retorts, “Our family has a history of funny pet names so when I was born, they consciously decided not to saddle me with one. Some friends called me Randy, which like Jordan, was a pretty wannabe name, but unlike Janardan, I didn’t like it much.”


The actor, who’s a household name now, admits that when he was in the US studying method acting at The Lee Strasberg Theatre And Film Institute in New York, Americans had a problem pronouncing his name. He smiles, “I got them to get it right by miming, ‘run’ and ‘beer’. It always worked.”