Ronit Roy, who was last seen in Guddu Rangeela, has never been one for candid media chats. However, the actor sat down with us for a tête-a-tête in his vanity van in Pune, where he is shooting for Saat Kadam and opened up about how he doesn’t fear getting typecast, which film he regrets not doing and much more.
He is known for taking up roles older than his age, having played a father thrice already. Ask him what makes him comfortable with older roles and he says, “This was the question posed to me when I was playing Rishabh Bajaj in Kasauti. I was 30 something and was playing a man in his mid forties. At that time it was my most popular piece of work. So as an actor I am not afraid of older characters.”
Telling us more about the older characters he has played, Ronit adds, “In Udaan, I was supposed to play Ram Kapoor’s role and there’s a history to how it worked out the way it did. However, 2 States was pretty much because of Karan’s (Johar) conviction. He said ‘trust me and do the role’, so I said ok. I am somebody who trusts people and I trust Karan because I think he is a very intelligent filmmaker.”
While his earlier roles have worked out well for him, Ronit adds that his current project, Saat Kadam, is much the same.
“This time again, I trust the director’s (Mohit) conviction. I was the first actor he approached for the role. He (Mohit) told me that he had me in mind when he was writing the role and when I heard the script I immediately agreed to do it. There was a point when we were not sure if Eros was producing the film or not. But I was so convinced with the script that I told him in case Eros decides not to produce it then I will produce it for him. The film was getting delayed so that gave us a feeling that may be Eros didn’t want to produce it.”
While most actors shy away from doing similar roles for the fear of being typecast, Ronit tells us that it’s not something he fears.
“I honestly I don’t care, because if you look at my filmography, you will see that I am not being typecast. I think the days of being ‘typecast’ are gone. The three cops that I played where all different and so were the three fathers.”
He further elaborates, “Our audience has become much smarter, young people have started viewing films and the whole notion of typecasting doesn’t exist anymore.”
Telling us about how he chooses his roles, he says, “I don’t have the intelligence to choose so I work in two ways — either I work with people I trust or I work with my gut instinct. And I have come to the conclusion that my gut is right; I like to take chances. The only Bollywood film I regret not doing is Rahasya. I wanted to but I couldn’t do it because of date problems. Other than that it’s Homeland and Zero Dark Thirty.”
In spite of his success on the big screen, Ronit still continues to take up work in television. “There is a large cross section of my audience who follow my work on television and I have no doubts that I am who I am because of that very audience. They are instrumental in my journey and are like a part of my family,” he concludes.
