Controversies should not come in the way of art: Ronit Roy

Political or religious — it doesn’t matter what the reason is, films today find themselves in a maelström of controversies.

Midnight’s Children and Vishwaroopam have both been under the scanner for quite a while now. “I don’t think controversies should come in the way of art. Controversies and criticism have to be fair. And I think there are more important matters to be dealt with rather than messing with art,” expresses Ronit Roy, who will be seen next in Deepa Mehta’s Midnight’s Children.

Now, going by his choice of roles, it seems like our favourite lawyer KD Pathak of Adaalat likes playing ‘bad daddy’ on big screen. After his film Udaan, Ronit, who last appeared in Student of The Year, will be portraying Ahmed Sinai, the father of Saleem Sinai, the protagonist of the film.

“When Deepa approached me, I wasn’t nervous but, very curious. I had not read the book, but when I read the screenplay, I found it very extensive. I was curious about how is she going to put it all on screen but I love the result,” says Ronit, who had no vision as to how his character was going to be. “I went into the film surrendering to the director. Deepa told me that the character had a story arc that progresses throughout the film. I went in with her vision about Ahmed and troubled her throughout the schedule,” jests Ronit.

So how difficult was it to portray a character that most people around the world are more than familiar with? “That’s a question of accessibility. And it’s all about how much conviction you have to play the character with. I have done it earlier on television, when I took over a role which had already been portrayed by someone else. I can easily step into other’s shoes,” laughs Ronit, adding, “I followed the correct way rather than the way it’s in the book. Moreover, Salman was always there and he knew the way he wanted the character to be.”

Working with an ensemble cast comprising newbies and thespians, Ronit shares that the three months of the shooting experience were ‘memorable’. “David, Deepa’s partner is an extremely gracious host and he made us all feel very comfortable. While on location for three months, we’d all spend time together and would travel to work in the same van. It was a very different experience — I got a chance to spend a lot of time and chat up with Charles Dance,” shares Ronit.

From being a popular face on small screen to playing character roles on the silver screen, we wonder how the big switch has been? “I don’t think too much about life and take it as it comes. Materialistically, I’m totally content. I shoot for 365 days, but when I watch international actors, I often find myself wishing for similar work.” Luckily for him, that’s exactly how his career is shaping up. “I’m doing Ugly, Shootout at Wadala and Boss with three versatile directors — Anurag Kashyap, Sanjay Gupta and Anthony D’Souza. And I’m playing a cop in all the three. Well, that was challenging,” signs off Ronit.