Comedy came by chance: Paresh Rawal

From a villain to a simpleton, whose deadpan expression is sure to tickle your funny bone, actor Paresh Rawal has donned different hats on screen. His wry tone while answering our questions shows that he does not have to try too hard to deliver comic dialogues with a straight face.

Asked whether comedy comes naturally to him, Paresh says, “It came by chance, it took a director of Priyadarshan’s calibre to discover the latent comedian in me. I am just a normal man at the end of the day and in real life I don’t go about delivering a string of jokes.”

The actor in him rebels at the thought of being typecast. He says, “The moment your film becomes a hit, you get the same kind of roles coming your way. I did Sardar with Ketan Mehta and a couple of films with Mahesh Bhatt that explored a very different facet of me.” He adds that as an actor you just have to go with the flow as the type of films offered are not under your control.

When prodded about the kind of roles that he would like to play, he says, “Sholay was just a commercial success. I relate more to films like Guide in which every character stands on his own,” and adds, “I am looking out for well-written roles that motivate and challenge me.” Speaking about his future projects, he seems excited about his upcoming release Oh My God. “It’s a path-breaking film as it will shake you up and change your way of thinking. Such thought-provoking films really enthuse me.”