Vinod Singh steps into Bollywood

Monday, November 12, 2007

When he played the 17-year-old Dr Ayushman, he was actually much older than that . And Vinod Singh managed to carve out a separate identity for himself. The youthful Vinod now plays Rohit in the film 'Daughter', of the Natvi Banner, thus setting foot on the big screen. The small screen is his first love, however, and he plays Vicky in Sahara One's 'Ghar Ek Sapna'.

As far as films are concerned, Vinod thinks it is a matter of fate. "I do not believe in differentiating between the small screen and the big screen. The medium is not important, your work is," he stresses. Which is why he has no qualms about doing a bit of theatre as well, and he was seen in the play, 'Black Market'. In fact, he wants some more theatre work because he thinks it is a challenge. "There are no retakes in theatre, and there is no need to look good all the time, unlike films and television. I believe that if one is appreciated for his theater work, then he is the real actor," he adds.

Vinod is very selective about the work he takes up, which is why he has not been seen in too many serials since 'Ayushman'. He does not believe in adding too much work to his profile, just to prove himself. His aim is to entertain the audience. "I am not too attached to money, either," he states, adding, "I need just about enough to live well, and that is all that is necessary." He believes that there is no point haggling over money, since he will not be able to carry it with him when he dies, and therefore it is a waste of time to pressurize self and others.

Vinod has set a record of sorts in the advertising world. He has endorsed various products in 181 ads, over a period of seven years. This is all thanks to his youthful face, obviously. He is almost always seen as the boy next door, trying to woo the girl next door. He is playing Ayub Khan's younger brother in the film, 'Daughter', who inspires his socialite, childless brother and sister-in-law to adopt a 12-year-old girl.

The actor has a lot of respect for the girl-child, and is willing to shoot anyone who treats a girl badly, he confesses. "Girls teach us how to love. As far as I am concerned, there should be more girls everywhere," says the actor, "we should revere the girl and be grateful, for the rest of our life, and beyond." And this is not all just talk. He had supposedly walked out of 'Ayushman' because of his co-actor, Neha Mehta, who had a problem with the director. He dismisses this as media hype, and says that he was tired of working more than 16 hours a day, and anyway, the show went off air after he left. He blames the media for the misunderstanding between Neha and him, adding that the two of them stopped speaking because of the various rumours linking both.

Now that all that unpleasantness is over, Vinod is concentrating on his film career. True to character, he is being choosy about the roles he accepts. And he can afford to be. His commercials get him all the money he needs. He even refused to play Shahid Kapoor's friend in Imtiaz Ali's 'Jab We Met'. He is now going through the various offers in hand, with a sieve, and will take up something that he believes in.