Exclusive interview with the cast of Toss

Ramesh Khattar is all set to toss his luck in his directorial debut Toss. The director says the movie is about the ever changing human psyche says director Ramesh Khattar. Subhadeep Bhattacharjee talks to Ramesh other cast of the movie in an exclusive interview.

Ramesh Khattar

What is Toss all about?
Toss is about the ever changing human psyche. It portrays the very magnitude and the set of beliefs that we have in our everyday lives. See we perceive most things in our life and believe in our perceptions but how do we know what we believe is true. This is the question we plan to raise in the movie. It might sound a bit too much to digest to start with but the audience will surely know what I am speaking once they watch the movie.

What is the main theme of the movie?
It is small incidents that can change your life. See you might have a tyre burst in the middle of the road and your story for the day might be changed. That is what the idea is to see how uncertainties shape up our lives.

Toss as we know is a thriller what are your expectations from it?
Toss is not a thriller, I don't know how people started calling it a thriller. Its a movie which talks about the human relationship nature in everyday life. I would call it a relationship movie. The movie will surely connect well with the audience.

With the Swine Flu outbreak in Maharashtra are you a bit sceptical about the performance of the movie in the affected areas?
Well initially we were a bit worried after the theatres were shut down last week but now with the theatres opening again we are confident about doing well. There is also a conspiracy theory going on that many cases aren't swine flu either. A friend of mine who is doctor said that people have gone into a panic mode and are worried more than they should be.

You are working with a mix of experienced and fresh faces in the movie. How was the experience shooting with the cast?
The experience was really good all of them delivered what I wanted from them. Aarti, Asmit, Zakir Hussain, Rajpal Yadav and Mahesh Manjerekar were all experienced and Shruti Gere, Madhurima Banerjee and Ranvijay blended in well. In fact I was introduced to Ranvijay by a common friend and when I watched him on Roadies, I zeroed on in him as he had what I wanted in the character Ryan. The audience won't expect anything out of the character and that's what I wanted.

Aarti Chhhabria bring in the glamour element to the movie. What is her character all about?
Sahsa the character that Aarti plays is completely unlike her. Sahsa is a fun loving girl independent girl with a bundle of jokes who has no remorse in life and believes in living for the day. She doesn't have moral conflict which was very important for the script. The script being three dimensional needed Sahsa not to carry any moral baggage.
Aarti got under the skin of the character in no time and this will surely be one character in which the audience will take notice of Aarti.

Since Toss is your directorial debut are there butterflies in your stomach?
There are butterflies of course but I am anxious more than happy. But I have put my vision in the movie. When I saw the final print I was happy as I had done exactly what I wanted to do in the movie. The entire cast gave me what I wanted from the movie.

Ashmit Patel

What is the your character Josh like?
Someone with a lot of Josh in his life. He is the leader of the group without anyone having to elect him. He is an aggressive marketing professional who works with Sami (Prashant Raj). He believes in results and is willing to go after them. He believes in taking challenges head on and that makes him the leader among all his friends.

You are known to have a distinct sex appeal. Is that reflected in the character of Josh?
(Laughs) Well all I can say is Josh has a very distinct character. There will be many aspects in his career which is similar to mine and many will be completely different from me in life.

How was it working with Ramesh Khattar since it was his directorial debut?
He was awesome from the word go and knew exactly what he wanted from all his starts. He would not settle for anything less than perfection and it was a great experience for me to have worked in his directorial debut.

Prashant Raj

Tell us something about your character Sami?
Well, I play the lead character Sami in the movie. He is a intensely talented and serious person who is the creative head of a leading ad agency. He is honest and upfront and a doting lover. His lover Sasha leads him to a point where he is faced with a situation bought in by a toss of coin. Here he suffers from a dual character syndrome where he has to make a difficult choice in his life.

Your last movie Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag had bombed. What is the major difference between the two movies?
I didn't direct Aag so can't say anything about it. The major difference in Toss are my co-stars who are of the same age unlike Aag where I was working with Amitabh Bachchan and Mohanlal and would always have to look up at them. I would like to say that was a kind of internship in my life but I learnt a lot there. My character in Toss is much more flexible than it was in Aag and so it was much easier enacting it.

We heard stories that you had to loose weight for the movie?
The script required me to look a simple advertising professional so I had to shed some muscles to get that look. I lost 10-12 pounds for the movie.

Shruti Gera

What is your character Fiyona like?
Fiyona is a catholic girl whose love for God is guided by her choice. She is in a live in relationship with her boyfriend whon she loves very much. She is a god fearing person who sings in the church. One incident happens and changes her life for ever and the truth becomes too much for her to handle.

Since Toss is your debut movie how was it working with seasoned strars?
It was great experience to shoot with them and watch them give shots. I was quite apprehensive in the beginning as all of them had faced the camera before and I was a newcomer but all of them made me feel comfortable. I did not act with Rajpal Yadav but just watched him during his takes. I have been a great fan of his since the day I watched Main Madhuri Dixit Banna Chahti Hoon

Shruti after Toss, what are the other films that you are doing?
Well I am certainly in talks with some directors and producers but it will be too early to speak of them right now. In the due course of time I will let them be known.