Riling Ronit - 'I feel helpless...'

Riling Ronit - 'I feel helpless...'

Overworked Roy can't take his 16-hour work day. May stick with Ekta, and walk out of Zee's Sarrkaar

Reena Thapar Kapoor

The last four months have been harrowing for Ronit Roy. Speculations about the actor's alleged cold war with the Balaji head honcho Ekta Kapoor took a new turn when his presence in Manish Goswami's Zee show Saarkaar started affecting his other two top dailies on Star Plus, Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi and Kasautii Zindagi Kay. Back then it was rumored that Ronit would quit Balaji to favour Sarrkaar.
Now it turns out that he is likely to opt out of the Zee show instead. The actor says, "I'll have to give up one of the three shows. But we're still talking." Ronit hopes that he doesn't end up hurting his producers' egos. But he asserts, "All I can tell you is that my loyalty is towards Star Plus and Ekta Kapoor. I've been able to reach here only because of their shows."
On his present work-load, Ronit adds, "I've had no time for my family. Doing three daily shows is getting to me. This is the first time I'm feeling helpless." The trouble began when his shows Sarrkaar and Kasautii… -- both of which incidentally run on the same time slot on Zee and Star respectively -- were turned into programmes that appear five times a week. "There is too much pressure on me and I'm unable to concentrate on my work. The stress has started affecting my performances as well," says Ronit. The actor feels trapped in a Catch-22 situation: "All three shows require me, as I'm the lead character in them. In this complication my co-stars and producers also get affected."
As for his initial decision to sign up with Sarrkaar, an act that was seen as one of defiance against Balaji, Ronit argues, "The reason I took up Sarrkaar was because of its strong content. To make 'more money' was not the idea. Manish had categorically told me that his show was going to be a weekly -- as in four episodes a month. Suddenly they decided to make it a daily and it was too late to back off. Today I'm shooting 16 crazy hours a day. If the writers of the shows manipulate plots to explain my absence, the viewership ratings of the shows start to drop. In Kasautii… my track is in coma but I am very much shooting for that as well. I have to make a choice without hurting anyone."
Hence, in all probabilities the actor is likely to walk out of Zee's Sarrkaar. To whether the show's producers have found a replacement for him yet, Ronit says, "Not as yet." The actor feels that due to the current mess, the appointment diaries of his co-stars may suffer as well: "The dates of other actors in the three shows are worked upon as per my availability. That is bound to happen because all three are dailies and the telecast pressures keep mounting all the time." However Sarrkaar's producer Manish Goswami denied that he had any intentions of replacing Ronit Roy on the show.

* I've had no time for my family. Doing three daily shows is getting to me. This is the first time I'm feeling helpless- ronit roy

that's so much time he has to work...its nice that he is still thinking of others instead of his own health...hope he gets thing s sorted out...poor guy, atleast his work is apprecriated by all of us.