Exclusive Interview: Ruslaan Mumtaz On The Perfect Script, Nepotism, Television And Parenthood

Tell us something about your character in The Perfect Script?

I play a rich businessman Shekhar, who is the best friend of Rohit (another character) and his wife Madhu. It is a dynamic between these three people. Since he is a friend of Rohit, he supports him in every situation. That's all I can say about my character for now.

How was your experience shooting with director Partho Ghosh?

Partho Da is a very successful director. His Ghulam-E-Mustafa movie is one of my favourite movies. I am a big fan of his work. He is a very loving director on sets. He makes it as easy as possible for the actors. When I was working with him, it was the easiest shoot I have ever had in my life. He makes sure that the actors are comfortable and they are doing everything as per their comfort.

Tell us any memorable moment from the sets of The Perfect Script and your experience of shooting with your co-stars Rahul Dev and Rajniesh Duggall?

I have known Rahul and Rajniesh for a very long time. I have a soft corner for both of them in my heart. I look up to them because they are such good-looking models of our country. I know Rahul Dev years before I became an actor. He used to come to the same gym, and his fitness level is incredible. I used to always get inspired by him. On the other hand, I have worked with Rajniesh in Dangerous Ishq. So, our bonding is very strong. We have a strong bond like brothers. It's been great hanging out with them on the set. While shooting for the show, I often talked about Rahul Dev, to which he had given various reactions. Those reactions were the memorable moments from the sets.

OTT platforms are emerging in our country right now, Digiflix TV is also one of the newest to join the race. What’s your take on it?

OTT platforms are here to stay. All of them are getting successful now. People are getting engaged with the web shows. I am hoping Digiflix TV would also get success in the race of OTT platforms. The journey is not that easy, but the platform is going to be able to pull this off.

Being an actor what is more important to you- the script or the platform?

Both are important! The platform is as important as the script. If you have a great script, but the platform doesn't have a reach then it might not reach people. I also understand that if the script is really good, it makes the platform to reach out to the people.

How was your experience working in TV industry? Would you like to do a TV show again?

My TV experience was very good. Because on television, you get to learn a lot. While working in the TV industry, you don't get time to prepare, as all things work on time. You get a script on the spot and need to perform it soon in front of the camera. The process makes actor confident and it pushes you to be more hardworking towards your craft. It helped me to learn things easily, and now I can do the scene quickly. I can work more in a day, just because of television.

Last year, you became a proud father of a baby boy. After becoming a father what are the changes you experienced?

Honestly, the changes have not come from my baby's birth. They had come from the lockdown. Because of it, a lot of suicide happened in the industry at that point of time. It really changed my thought process regarding my career. All these years, I had been looking for happiness from my career. During the lockdown, I realised that my happiness doesn't lay in that. Happiness is in my well-being, my family's safety. At that time, Rayaan was born, hence, because of the lockdown, I became a more involved father. Looking after a baby from scratch was my duty during the lockdown. I had everything at my house, but I did that because of boredom. Since I am home, why don't I try to look after my baby? That's how it had happened.

What is your take on nepotism?

As an audience, if I have a favourite actor and his child is making a debut with a movie, why wouldn't I pay for a movie ticket and watch a movie of him/her. But, if they are bad actors, they are not going to be repeated. And if they are repeated despite giving bad performances, they will not reach the level that their parents have achieved. If there is somebody who is not from the filmi background, I would not go and watch his/her first movie. But, if somebody praised them, I would definitely go and watch his/her performance. Nepotism is a baseless thing that is going on in the industry. I am not against nepotism.