Yogesh Mishra | yogesh@bollywoodtown.in
Ashutosh Rana is one of the renowned Bollywood actors mainly known for his negative roles. He has played the mind-blowing roles like ‘Lajja Shankar Pandey’ in ‘Sangharsh’ and ‘Gokul Pandit’ in ‘Dushman’. His some of hit movies are- Jaanwar, Badal, Kasoor, Raaz, Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania, Ab Tak Chhappan 2 and many more. Year 2018 was quite lucky for him. ‘Dhadak’, ‘Mulk’ and ‘Simmba’ are some of the hit movies of the year. In a candid chat with Yogesh Mishra, he spoke about his recent released movies, working experiences with new comers, future plans and more…
Voice of heart can be expressed in our mother tongue only. What is your comment on
this?
I believe that Hindi is the language of my own (people), my nation and my profession. All my languages are Hindi only. For instance- best tea leaf is found in Assam only but if we try to grow it in Mumbai then we won’t find the same taste or flavour that we used to get in
Assam’s tea because the geographical condition of Mumbai is different from Assam. That means, you can express your emotions better in whichever geographical and emotional
background you belong.
You have given many hit movies in 2018. How do you take it for years to come?
Year 2018 was a good year for me. My three films did well on box office- ‘Dhadak’, ‘Mulk’ and ‘Simmba’. I have played different characters in all these films. Even there was a different
temperament of these films. It is like a dream for any actor to play different kind of roles at one time that has been appreciated by audience and critics. One of my book is also published this year (2018) only. So, I can say it was really a good year for me.
Mostly you are known for negative roles but you ended this year (2018) with a positive
role in ‘Simmba’. Was it planned?
I will give credit to Rohit Shetty for this. He appreciate me and says- “a good actor can play any kind of role. So far your work is appreciated for negative roles but why don’t you play a positive role this time”. That was like a challenge for me but if you are with a successful
director and having a good script then things will definitely work in your favour. Even in the past, my all negative roles are different from each other.
You have played different roles in ‘Dhadak’, ‘Mulk’ and ‘Simmba’. Which was more challenging for you?
Honestly speaking, I prefer only good and challenging roles/characters so that I can break my own limitations. In that way, I like all those three characters.
Recently you have worked with few new comers like Janhvi Kapoor, Ishan Khattar and Sara Ali Khan. How was your working experience with them?
I have been lucky enough to work with many new comers, be it Alia Bhatt, Janhvi Kapoor, Ishan Khattar or Sara Ali Khan. When you work with a new comers, they allow you to do something new.
In the past, you have played mind-blowing characters like Lajja Shankar Pandey in ‘Sangharsh’ and Gokul Pandit in ‘Dushman’. Do you think in current scenario it’s a under-utilisation of your talent?
I believe that I should get bigger and better roles than my characters like Lajja Shankar Pandey of ‘Sangharsh’ and Gokul Pandit of ‘Dushman’. I am still waiting for the bigger roles from my those characters. I am in lucky few whose characters are still alive in people’s mind. As per under- utilisation is concerned, I think I keep on selecting best of the best characters/roles that are coming on my way. In that selection process I am getting even good
response. This is on-going process so I think there is no question of under-utilisation or over utilisation here.
…In last two decades, you did not get that kind of roles. What’s the reason?
Even other actors did not play such characters after that. I think such characters are not been written after that so how can I get such roles again. I have never tried to limit myself with a
particular roles or mediums. I would like to share an incident. Immediate after the release of my film ‘Dushman’ I got a chance to meet Dilip Kumar ji. He said that ‘I am very happy with your work and I want to give you a suggestion.’ He said “We all are here to sell the toys.
Every person has a certain number of toys in their basket. Now its upto you that whether you want to sell these toys till 5 years or till 50 years. Remember one thing Ashutosh, Dilip Kumar has sold his toys till 50 years. That’s why Dilip Kumar’s firm ran till 50 years. So don’t sell your toys in 5 years.”
How was your working experience with director Nabhkumar ‘Raju’?
I have worked with him in film ‘Chot’. That is one of my favourite movie but unfortunately that did not work. That is one of my favourite performance as a Kishan Yadav. I have wonderful working experience with Nabhkumar Raju. He made this film very patiently and full heartedly. ‘Chot’ is in the list of my few selected movies which are very close to my heart.
What are your upcoming movies?
My upcoming films are- ‘Sonchiriya’ which is expected to release in Feb. 2019 then ‘Milan Talkies’ followed by a Dharma Productions and a Yash Raj Films etc..
