Rahul Roy, who will be making a comeback to the silver screen with Harikrit Films’ suspense thriller ‘To Be Or Not To Be’, on re-starting his career with a practical wisdom that is often the fruit of experience.
Why such a long gap before making a comeback into films?
Very simply, I never got the right offer or the right script. I was in Australia, and was working on starting my own production when I got this beautiful script, which is being directed by Virendra Lalit. Honestly, it is after many years that I have come across a script that I really wanted to do. You see, at this stage of my career an actor has nothing to look forward to except a good story and a good script, with a good production house and director to tell that story well. I found that with ‘To Be Or Not To Be’, which is why I’m here.
How do you perceive the kind of cinema being made today, and how do you see yourself fitting into it?
‘To Be Or Not To Be’ is exactly the kind of film that fits into the cinema being made today, and I find myself fitting into it just fine. As an actor, you need to evolve and adapt to all kinds of cinema, keeping all preconceived notions and egotism aside to do your job professionally. Also, when I was doing films in the 90s, I feel even a movie like ‘Junoon’ was almost ten years ahead of its time. Bhatt saab was ten years ahead of his time, in general. So, having worked with people who were ahead of their times, this experience and this cinema isn’t actually new to me.
Had you debuted in films today rather than back in the 90s, do you think you would have had a better career?
Not at all. I don’t believe in suppositions or hypothesizing. Today, I think I’m better off in a general sense for one simple reason: I’m re-starting my career with a little bit more wisdom. I’m not saying I will never make mistakes, but I do think I’ll make fewer mistakes now.
Do you think your experience and body of work in the industry make for an advantage or a disadvantage for you, now?
They are definitely an advantage. See, no one has found the secret formula to ensure a successful film. But one thing that has come into play over the last decade or so, apart from the necessity of good content and star cast of course, is marketing.
You have to know which segment of the audience you target your film to. Today, all kinds of films have an audience. But if you market a film wrong, or work with the wrong people, then there is a greater chance of that film not working. So, experience will hopefully take away from that risk a bit, for me. Also, you have a lot of good professionals in the field now who are very good at what they do in terms of understanding what your film is about, how it should be marketed and what audience it needs to target. In our movie, for example, we are very clear what our market is: it is a story that can be related to more by an urban audience.
What’s next for Rahul Roy?
There’s another film already lined up, called ‘Shoot Run Kill’ which will be made under my own production. The script is ready, and will be directed by a National Award winning director. I’m getting things more or less sorted in my life, and hoping all goes well.
