There can only be one Govinda in Bollywood: Riteish Deshmukh
18 Jun 2009
"I have often been compared to Govinda. One needs to understand it's one of the biggest compliments anyone can ever give me. But there can only be one Govinda," Riteish told IANS in an interview.
"He is among the best talent we have (in Bollywood). And if everyone thinks that I am close to his style and look like I belong to the same kind of comedy, I am extremely happy," he added.
The two actors have teamed up for the first time for David Dhawan's comedy "Do Knot Disturb", which also stars former beauty queens Sushmita Sen and Lara Dutta.
Riteish says he has a lot to learn from Govinda.
"I learnt about good comic timing, how to go beyond a scene, how to lift a scene, voice modulation, body language and all such things. It was like we had active and reactive personalities. He would act and I would react," quipped Riteish.
Until now, the 30-year-old actor had been typecast in comic roles after he featured in movies like "Masti", "Bluffmaster", "Heyy Babyy" and "Dhamaal", among others.
But following the release of "Do Knot Disturb", Riteish will be seen in different avatars in movies like "Rann" and "Aladdin".
"I hope they (the films) do break my iconoclastic image. It's like certain films keep casting you as an actor. But after five years, I am finally getting to do different kinds of roles and that's what every actor wants to do — different things.
"I always wanted to act in comedies, but when I am getting a chance to do other things, I am happy about it. But again, how I will be cast later will largely depend on how well the forthcoming films would do," he said.
Riteish, who did brilliantly as one of the hosts of the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards that concluded last week in Macau, will be sharing screen space with Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan in Ram Gopal Varma's "Rann" as well as Sujoy Ghosh's "Aladdin".
"The experience of working with Big B is extraordinary. He is a legend. Later, I will be proud to tell my grandchildren that I worked with Amitabh Bachchan.
"Apart from basic acting skills, I learn how to conduct myself, how you behave with co-actors and the technicians on the sets from Mr. Bachchan. Besides he also jokes a lot with me," said Riteish, who is close friends with Amitabh's son Abhishek Bachchan.
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