TOI:Ronit Roy on cloud nine

Priyanka Das Gupta, TNN, Apr 17, 2010, 12.00am IST

Ronit Bose Roy is on cloud nine. His film, Udaan (The Flight), has been officially selected for the 63rd Cannes film festival that will be held between May 12-23. Rubbing shoulders with his film in the Un Certain Regard section are works of other greats from world cinema including Jean-Luc Godard's Film Socialisme and Manoel de Oliveira's Angelica. Excerpts:

Are your bags packed for Cannes?
I will definitely be going there. Who wouldn't want to be present at such a prestigious venue? I have been to France before but have never been to Cannes. Even while shooting the film, I had a lot of conviction in it. But honestly speaking, I never realised that it would make it to Cannes this way. I've a policy in life. I associate myself with people and not products. If a person has a short-term vision, one will plant trees. But those with long-term vision will plant people. I have loved my association with Udaan's director Vikramaditya Motwane and Anurag Kashyap, who has produced and co-written the film.

Is it true that you weren't initially cast for the role that you finally did in the film?
Yes. I was earlier supposed to play the role that Ram Kapoor has portrayed in the movie. Another actor (I wouldn't disclose his name) was supposed to do my role. But this actor opted out since he was doing a commercial movie. One day, Anurag Kashyap came over to my house at eight in the morning and said that I would be playing that role.

With Cannes calling for you now, do you feel the Indian big screen hasn't done justice to your talent?
I don't really think about those things. I do my work and the size of the canvas doesn't matter to me. My quality of work remains the same.

What does this selection do to you as an actor and as an individual?
I have a code of conduct in life. I don't usually let success or failure bog me down. As a human being, failures can be disturbing. But then, I don't really take things to heart. And most importantly, I don't let success go to my head. I am happy for the young boy, Rajat Barmecha, who is making his debut in the film. Besides, I'd love to comment on Anurag and Vikram. The faith that Anurag had in Vikram is what filtered down to me too. Vikram didn't seem like a debutant director. He had no insecurities and was bang on. Later, Vikram told me he found another dimension in my performance that he didn't see while writing the film.

Any other Hindi films now?
No. Right now, I'm busy doing Bandini on Imagine. That apart, I've my security business. I'm now posted in Bangalore.

With IPL suddenly being embroiled in controversy, has your morale got affected?
It's a very tough task to arrange for security for IPL3. My hands are full and I find myself incapable of judging issues related to such a big tournament. As far as my morale is concerned, I'm with Lalit (Modi) all the way. I will support him.

Working with stars and arranging for their security - has there ever been a clash?
No. I come from a grassroot level. The stars, whom I provide a security cover to, have always given me love and respect.

Your brother, Ronit Roy, has made his Bengali debut. Are you thinking of doing more Bengali films?
Of course, I'm interested but I don't wish to do the kind of Bengali films that I've done in the past. Bengalis are known for their intelligence and I want to do some film which will showcase that.

hes not the only one on cloud nine😍

I second what you said. Congratulation to all of them.