“No pain, no gain,” says Randeep Hooda with a wink during a conversation with select media for Do Lafzon Ki Kahani . Of late his pain is not resulting in box office gain. Sarbjit fizzled out despite his nuanced performance and physical transformation. In the Deepak Tijori film, he has again undergone physical transformation for he is playing a mixed-martial arts fighter. “I got hurt during the shooting; my toes got broken but I completed the shooting.” Indeed, no pain, no gain! He is glad that his performance in Sarbjit has been noticed “It is better to be noticed as a good actor than merely described as the sexiest actor. Acting is more about emotional preparation. Here I am playing a fighter who is very shy and reserved. Physical appearance adds to the emotional preparation. I reduced to 65 kg in Sarbjit and then gained 30 kgs.”
Acknowledging the contribution of veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah in his career, he says being in “his company” has significantly groomed him as an actor. “I was used to flaunting the Australian accent while speaking English which helped me bag the role of an NRI in Monsoon Wedding, but after that Naseer Sahab supported me in learning the intricacies of Hindi dialogue delivery.
Based on a Korean film, Always, Do Lafzon… is the love story of a MMA fighter who quits the art and falls in love with a blind girl. Kajal Aggarwal, a big name in Tamil and Telugu film industries, says the preparation for the role made her realise the value of vision. “We take it for granted. I read several books, watched videos, and after meeting blind people realised how important eyes are to a person. In fact, Randeep and I have pledged to donate our eyes. It’s not at all easy to portray a blind character. I used to get headaches during workshops.”
Kajal says she loves doing commercial films where audience gets wholesome entertainment but off an on she doesn’t mind considering an offbeat role if the script is compelling. “I don’t believe in numbers but it is a fact that every one in the crew wants the film to be profitable.”
