New Delhi: He first charmed his way into our hearts as Rishabh Malhotra in Mahesh Bhatt’s TV show Swabhimaan and made his mark in every project he did. Rohit Roy has done a mix of films, television and theatre, and for him every character means a fresh challenge.
For instance, last year, the actor worked in a one-of-its-kind horror play called Ovee-A Haunted Hostel, where he played three character simultaneously–a shrewd chacha, a police officer and a psychiatrist. The play enjoyed massive applause from the audiences and gave immense satisfaction to Rohit as an actor.
Ovee-A Haunted Hostel, apart from Rohit Roy starred Sayantani Ghosh, Deeksha Agnihotri and Ridhima Rakesh Bedi and was staged at the Kamani auditorium in September last year.
Directed by Aniket Patil, Ovee promises a horror-cum-thriller ride to the theatre goers. Written by Imtiaz Patel, Ovee revolves around a teenage girl who lost her parents at an early stage and is sent to an orphanage by her paternal uncle.
After staging over a 100 shows in Marathi and then Gujarati, Ovee was translated into Hindi. The play assured the chills and thrills of a horror play. Objects flying in the air, drawers opening on their own, a man disappearing into thin air..are some of the supernatural elements through which the director tries to scare the audiences.
Rohit Roy also has an upcoming movie Mumbai Saga coming up which is a gangster drama directed by Sanjay Gupta. The actor plays the role of Jaykar Shinde. The release date of the film is yet to come out. The first look of the film was released at the beginning of the year.
Apart from Rohit, the film also stars John Abraham, Suniel Shetty, Jackie Shroff, Emraan Hashmi, Kajal Aggarwal, Prateik Babbar, Gulshan Grover, Amole Gupte, Sharman Joshi, Samir Soni and Pankaj Tripathi.
Actor Rohit Roy gets candid with Heena Mehta of Top Lead India and talks about Mumbai Saga, Ovee, Sanjivani 2 and his journey so far. Excerpts from the interview:
Q: From Swabhimaan till Sanjivani 2, how has been your journey so far?
A. From Swabhimaan to Sanjivani 2, my TV and film career has been highly gratifying. I won’t say that I have achieved much yet and with every new film and new show, I feel like a rank newcomer on Day 1!! This statement is not meant for any dramatic effect, it’s absolutely how I felt while giving my first shot for Sanjivani 2.
Every new character brings with it a new set of challenges. Vardhan was a character I had never played on TV and so I was desperate to get it right. I’m so glad that the audience has not only accepted my character but it has created a space for me that I didn’t even know existed on television. Similarly, shooting for Mumbai Saga with John Abraham has its own set of challenges. He has a larger than life personality and most of my scenes are with him in the film!!
Q. Despite belonging to horror-cum-thriller genre, Ovee: A haunted hostel has been well received by the audiences. What do you have to say on this?
A. This was a pleasant surprise to say the least. Horror comedy is a hitherto unexplored genre in India at least on stage, but I did know that in India, horror has always worked. As far back as the Ramsay films or the current crop of supernatural shows on TV, they all have been lapped up by the audience but still I didn’t expect this thundering reception from the audience for Ovee.
Q. How did you manage to prepare for three roles amidst an ongoing daily soap Sanjivani 2?
A. Ha! Ha! Ha! That was the tough part. I was shooting for Sanjivani 2 and Mumbai Saga simultaneously. It was an uphill task to prepare all three characters and that too markedly different from each other but I guess once you commit to theatre, there is no choice but to swing it. I am happy that the audiences loved all three of my portrayals and I received different favourites from different people; that was most gratifying. Some people enjoyed the irritating chacha while some enjoyed the dabang policeman, but most enjoyed the psychiatrist.
Q. Through Ovee, the director expects the society to be little more humane towards schizophrenics. Any particular research done by you?
A. I have known a few dear friends who have suffered from anxiety attacks and depression and so it was easy for me to identify with my character of the psychiatrist. The society should adopt a little more empathetic approach towards people suffering from mental issues. It’s sad that in India we laugh at kids with mental problems. Hopefully, this play will make our society empathetic towards people with mental imbalance.
Q. This is an era of social media. Action-reaction is instant. So, did you have any apprehensions before taking up such risky project?
A. Not at all.. in fact that was one of the reasons I took it up. Forget the challenges for me as an actor, the stage I am at in life, I want to make a difference to the well being of society. It’s our responsibility.
Q. Rohit Roy is one of the most-loved performers on screen. Would you agree that it was ‘you’ behind the rousing welcome to Ovee?
A. Ha ha .. no no.. I was just one of the actors .. it’s just that I was the most known of the lot, but the rousing welcome was for all the performers. In fact, they were all superb and kept me on my toes. I’d say that the actor who played Ovee was the reason the play worked so well and I mean that, no humility here.
Q. Any words of wisdom you shared with protagonist Ovee and other child actors on the show?
A. They didn’t need any words of wisdom! They were on point from Day 1 of rehearsals and I was the one who had to catch up. I’m just happy that the entire cast came together as a unit and the audience saw that me being the senior most, had the responsibility of keeping the cast together as one.
(The interview was done by Heena Mehta in September last year)