Is Randeep Hooda doing an Aamir Khan?

By: Subhash K. Jha, IndiaFM
Thursday, September 07, 2006

Randeep dares to dream. Is he out-doing Aamir Khan in the sphere of finicky role selection? Among the several roles he has turned down we must count Rang De Basanti.

Randeep loves Rang De Basanti. But doesn't regret not being part of it. "I love the film's energy and verve. But I want to do a real Bhagat Singh film...unlike the ones that have already come. I want to do it on the scale of Mel Gibson's Braveheart."

Yup, media recluse and utterly unperturbed by the hype that surrounds the average wanna-shine, Randeep is walking that thin line between dedication and compromise. He is doing his work like walking on glass. "It's more like walking on class. I don't want to do the wrong kind of work. Better sparks in the dark than a full-blown fuse in limelight ," he chuckles. "Look I've already proved myself as an actor in D. 'Look what an actor!' That phase is already done. Now I need to move forward, do work that takes me ahead. I don't mind doing less work. But I can't do bad work."

Randeep has only two films on hand. "I enjoyed doing Ram Gopal Varma's Darna Zaroori Hai. But yes, it is my last Ram Gopal Varma film. I don't see myself working in that organization in the near future. My international film Karma Confessions & Holi...I don't know when it will be released here. But my big Bollywood film is Risk. It's me and my D director Vishram Sawant again. A 'risk' worth taking, ha ha. I've done a 360-degree about-turn from criminal to cop."

Risk where Randeep plays a cop is being readied for release. "And then I've signed one more film that will take me to the end of the year. I'm neither insecure nor nervous about less work. I'd be so if I wasn't getting work. But I continue to read scripts. None of them excites or challenges me. I've no idea what I'll do next. But whatever it is it will have to challenge me as an actor. I believe in Madonna's line. 'I'm not the owner of my talent, I'm the manager.' I think I'm managing quite well without support from anything except my own convictions."