Actor Ronit Roy, who rose to fame as ‘Mr. Rishabh Bajaj’ in ‘Kasautii Zindagi Kay’ recalls his time on the television show after it was slotted for a re-run.
In an exclusive interaction with The Free Press Journal, Ronit shares how he came on board ‘Kasautii Zindagi Kay’, his seamless transition into films, and more.
Looking back at his association with ‘Kasautii Zindagi Kay’ and how the casting happened Ronit states, “I was already working on another Balaji show, and Ektaa Kapoor approached me with the idea of playing Rishabh Bajaj. It was a role where the character looked young but had salt and pepper hair. So, most others did not want to pursue it, but I was ready. It was actually supposed to be a three-month story arc for 'Mr. Bajaj the businessman', but I was called into the office after a week. I thought maybe the character didn't work out. And when I got there, they told me that three months won't work now, we will have to extend the contract to one year.”
The show brought Ronit inside every Indian home that indulged in television viewing as one family. Although there weren’t any smartphones or social media back then, Ronit looks back at a memorable fan encounter that involved him posing for several pictures. He reminisces, “I remember this one fan wanted to take pictures with me and took out his camera and quickly took several pictures of us together. Then he started instructing me to pose a certain way. I went along with it, and it is a goofy memory for me to look back at.”
After gaining popularity as Mr. Bajaj, Ronit was offered another meaty role as Mihir Virani in the iconic show ‘Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi’. Both the shows aired around the same time period, which required him to do several hours of shooting. “We used to shoot for 12 hours, sometimes 16 hours or even 18. So, when I was doing both the shows simultaneously I used to work a 12-hour shift from 7 am to 7 pm on 'Kyunki' and then 7 pm to 7 am on 'Kasautii'. Sometimes I ended up sleeping in the studio itself. Back then, I was very hungry for work, shows, and success,” he says.
Not many are aware that prior to his stint on the small screen, Ronit made his Bollywood debut with the 1992 film ‘Jaan Tere Naam’. Over the years, he has featured in several films like 'Student of the Year', 'Shootout at Wadala', '2 States', 'Kaabil', ‘Shamshera' and 'Liger'.
It’s been around three decades for Ronit in showbiz. When asked, what keeps him pushing the limit, the actor asserts that every artist is hungry for appreciation and applause even if they don’t say it. “I consider my fans and audience as my guardians, so I always try to understand and do what makes them happy. A piece of advice I always take with me is that 'If you want to be a good actor, you have to be a good human being'. So, I give my everything to a character, I surrender to the director and I concentrate really hard on the script, not because I want to be a very big star, but for the audience who expects great things from me. I won't ever cheat them out of a good performance. So, even if I get 3 hours of sleep instead of 7, I will do everything in my power to make sure that my audience isn't unhappy with my work. I always think of living up to their expectations,” he concludes.
