Article:I m Looking @ Life Differently Nw..Ronit

I AM LOOKING AT LIFE DIFFERENTLY NOW

With all the brouhaha over films like Kites and Raajneeti, there aren't too many people out there aware of a film called Udaan. While most would term it as one of those small, niche films, I beg to differ. The story surrounds the coming of age of a teenage boy who returns home, after being abandoned in a boarding school for eight years – something that is bound to strike a chord with the audience. One of the actors in the film is television superstar Ronit Roy. Extremely proud to be associated with Udaan, which was also officially selected to compete at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival, the seasoned actor is a proud man today.


Udaan is produced by Sanjay Singh, Anurag Kashyap and Ronnie Screwvala and directed by Vikramaditya Motwane, otherwise famous as the man who wrote the critically acclaimed success Dev D. Ronit explains how he got the film. "Anurag is a very dear friend and we live in the same building. One day in the morning, I offered to drop him somewhere. That's when he mentioned that there's this director called Vikramaditya Motwane who's making this film, Udaan, and he offered me a role in the film. I said sure and then went on to meet Vikram for lunch. That time I was told to do the role that Ram (Kapoor) went on to do. I remember while reading the script, I was looking at my character," he says with a smile. "One day, I found Anurag sitting in my living room. He told me that he wanted me to play the character that I'm playing now. Ram plays the boy's uncle while I play his father."

Ronit's character Bhairav is a hard man, but Ronit has a very different take on it. "When I was reading the script from the other point of view, I felt it was a mean character but still felt bad for this man. It wasn't sympathy I felt for the character, but I just held on to that feeling without analysing it. Even while shooting and deciding the look and all, Vikram had everything planned out; the script was well worked upon. Vikram knew it like the back of his hand."

So dedicated was Ronit to this film that even an accident on the sets didn't deter him in the least. "We shot the film in Jamshedpur. And once I had an accident on the sets, where I ended up breaking my nose in three parts. I went to the hospital, came back to the set and shot with a bleeding nose. I had no option because we had cut-to-cut schedules, so I finished the scene. Then the next day, I came to Mumbai, got treatment and went back again."

Ronit remains one of those television actors who is immensely proud of his craft. Yet, Udaan was an enthralling experience on another level. "I'm very proud of being on television, but working with Vikram and that unit was a great experience. In fact, I can state it was one of my greatest experiences. I was so involved in the character. I would wake up, go to the gym, shoot, come back and sleep. I was all alone in Jamshedpur. Rajat (Barmecha, who plays the lead Rohan) was not even given his cell phone and had no television in his room. It was all part of the training. I didn't watch TV for 40 days. Even though I was alone, I kept in touch with family only post shooting."

He goes on to narrate an incident where he felt his acting on television impacted his acting in Udaan. "It was the second day of shoot. I had a two-to-two shift. Post dinner, at around midnight, we started a new scene. I must have given a zillion takes for the scene. It was a strange thing that has never happened in my career, but I just could not deliver. We have to forget the mechanics of television. That was a night of introspection for me, and the next day when I did the same shot, it
was okay."

I ask him about the film being showcased at Cannes, and Ronit is surprisingly non-committal about this great prestige. "I don't know much about that. You should ask Vikram and Anurag about it. Once the film was done, I came back. I did hear things about people liking it, some were even raving about it. Shekhar Kapur called me and complimented me on my performance. I was pleasantly shocked that someone of his stature called me. I don't even know much about the release here. First it was supposed to be a May release, then September, and then I heard something about Venice and later Cannes. In fact, one day in the morning, I switched on my phone only to receive a message that Udaan is going to Cannes."

This is such a huge honour and yet Ronit has chosen not to tom-tom about something of this magnitude. When your product is good, shouldn't you bring more awareness to it? "People have told me that," he says. "When the film got selected for Cannes, I was told I should publicise it, gain some mileage from it. But I've never done this in my entire life. When you have a superb product, it speaks for itself. Yes, it has been a slow starter. But a screening for journalists has been held, people are talking about it on Twitter too. See, Vikram is too shy and Anurag is busy making his good films. I agree with their vision, and it's their vision which took them to Cannes. I have a strong feeling that post Cannes; it might be selected to be sent to the Oscars for the foreign film category," finally shedding away some of that modesty.

With such widespread acclaim, inter-national exposure is bound to come his way as well. Is he prepared for that? "International exposure?" he questions, his brow wrinkling, "I don't know about that. I've never strategised or analysed. And now it's too late in life to do that. Anyway nothing goes as per plan in my life. I'd rather let things happen and see what happens. My first film was a silver jubilee hit but nothing happened to my film career post that. People have gone far ahead without giving a silver jubilee hit so I don't want to sweat about it."

Udaan seems to have brought out the contemplative side in Ronit, who feels the movie has impacted his life in more ways than one. "Udaan is actually about a young boy coming of age. In real life, the film is about coming of age for me too. I'm looking at life differently now. I'm 10 years older than when I started on television. I have less energy now and one show is more than enough. My family needs me; my children are going to need me too. I missed my first daughter's (Ona, who resides in the US) childhood completely, I don't want to miss Aador and Agastya's childhood as well," he states emphatically.

From Udaan, I move on to his current television commitment Bandini. The show has been on air for a while now, and Ronit seems to have settled into it rather comfortably. But that also means there are days when it gets rather dreary and monotonous. "The initial excitement of settling into a character is akin to a child finding a new toy," he analogises. "You play with the toy initially, but later on the initial euphoria dies. I won't say it has become monotonous, but eventually, the mechanics of a daily soap do come into play. That's just what happens. I've never analysed my character, I always go with Ekta's vision; that's her forte so I never interfere. There are minor disagreements with detailing because eventually no one knows the character like I do. Sometimes I follow what I'm told to do, sometimes I mix and match and sometimes I just put my foot down."

Thankfully, the show continues to do well. "It has always had steady TRPs, right from the beginning. I guess that loyalty factor is prevalent, and it does have a stellar cast with a mix of newbies and veterans. Aasiya Kazi (his co-star) is doing great for herself."
And now Ronit has a new challenge thrown his way in the form of Kitchen Champion, a unique game-based cookery show that he'll be anchoring, where celebrities from the Colors family compete against one another for the title of Kitchen Champion. "I'm going into this without any preparation. I like the concept of the leading ladies on television coming into the kitchen and sparring with each other over recipes.

It's a new and different concept for me too. For the first time, I'll be hosting a show. I want that experience behind me, the fear of doing something new. I want to be spontaneous, and hence no preparing. Let me be Ronit Roy on the show. I've watched so many people hosting shows; different anchors get different tones out. I'm trying to anchor in a manner not done before and that has to come from within. I've shot three promos till now, and all three of them are different. I'm going to go by gut, and let the show drive me rather than me driving the show," he says resolutely.

Besides this, there's something else on the cards for Ronit that he won't speak much about. "It's been shot and approved to go on while Kitchen Champion is on mid-way or when it wraps up. I really can't talk about it now, it's not a reality show, but a game show. A different concept, with two-three genres in one, a one-man story and that's what I find interesting. It's about I, me, and myself. I can experiment a lot with myself and make every episode look different. It's a tough job since the onus will be on my shoulders." Now that sounds rather interesting.

On the personal front, Ronit who is general quite open tackling the controversies surrounding him is in a surprisingly diplomatic mood this time. Much has been written and heard about drunken escapades and public brawls, but he refuses to say much. "People print what they have to print eventually. There is no point in any talking or clarification. And I'm not willing to talk about it. I agree it is bad publicity, especially when you blow something out of proportion. These are the very same people who won't write about a film (Udaan) going to Cannes, but they'll write about such frivolous stuff," he says angrily.

He calms down when talking about family, understandably so. "I want to give my wife (Neelam) a good life, give my first daughter and my two little children a good education, enjoy my time with them, especially with my little chutkus," he says with a grin and then continues, "My older daughter goes to college now, I missed her childhood and I'm not going to let that happen again. For me, it's all about work and family from now on."
Ronit Roy is a man who has his priorities in place, something that should stand him in good stead in times to come as well.

*By Sneha Kamat