Posted:
Yes, Genelia is pregnant and we are both very excited about it: Riteish Deshmukh
Riteish Deshmukh
Riteish Deshmukh, 36, is chilled out and patient like his father. He can easily adjust to his surroundings and to people around him. He is a practising architect who wants to do many things in life, including making a museum for films. While he has recently won a National award for his Marathi film Yellow, he will soon make his debut as a Marathi actor. Over an hour-long conversation, ahead of his upcoming Sajid Khan comedy Humshakals, he talks to Bombay Times about life after his father, his soulmate Genelia and why he loves his mother the most in the world. Excerpts:
How did you come into films? I was born in Latur, where my father was a local politician and lived there till the age of five, when my father became a minister and we moved to Mumbai. I changed two schools in Mumbai, before I was moved with my older brother to a hostel in Panchgani, as my father was not a minister and, thus, we did not have a house in Mumbai. My mother, at this time, moved back with my younger brother Dheeraj to Latur. In 1986, my father again became a minister and that's when we came back to Mumbai and our formal education started. After finishing school, I went to Kamla Raheja School of Architecture and completed my architecture degree. I was going to New York to work for a year, but met my father's friend Subhash Ghai before leaving. He was building Whistling Woods at that time. Subhashji was going to shoot Yaadein in London and invited me on his set to see the shoot on my way to New York. I said, 'Wow, I will get to see Hrithik Roshan.' I went on the set and spent a few days there and then moved to New York. I was 23 then. There was a friend of mine, who had left architecture with me, but was assisting Subhashji and was visiting New York when I was there. I was looking at taking up some creative courses there and he suggested I do theatre workshops, as that would help me understand people better. After a year-and-a-half, the DOP of Yaadein who had seen me in London asked my director friend if I was interested in acting. I was a big fan of Shah Rukh Khan and have grown up on Hindi films. I used to watch five films a day, do my homework on movies and sometimes even watch the same movie 10 times. As a family, we would often go out for movies. I had never thought of becoming an actor, but through that DOP I got my first film Tujhe Meri Kasam, made by Ramoji Rao, as he was also the DOP on that film. My father, by this time, was the Chief Minister of Maharashtra and I had to go and take his permission. While it took me 10 days to sum up the courage to ask him, contrary to what I thought, he said, 'Go, do it,' and I became an actor.
Talk about your father? He started as a law student and became the sarpanch in his village. He was the only Chief Minister to have been a sarpanch. Nehru's idea of the Panchayati Raj was how the leader of the village i.e. sarpanch should lead the state and he was an example of that. He was always jovial and never carried his stress home. I respected him immensely, seeing the respect people gave him. Whenever he came home, we would all go from our room to his room. He would eat only at home whatever time he came. I know he didn't have too much time, but whatever time he gave us, was ours. As children, every year we would tour for 10 days and go to places like Taj Mahal or Tirupati in a train, with our dabbas opened up on newspaper, playing cards and singing antakshari. Nothing can be worse than losing your dad. I remember him everyday and there has never been a single day when I have gone out and not heard stories about things he has done for people. After losing him, I understand why one suddenly grows up when you lose your father. Thankfully, I had both my brothers to hold my hands and I was holding theirs, which made it easier as you don't feel alone. Suddenly, your mother becomes your priority. Today, she is the person I love the most in the world. She binds our family and is the focal point of our lives. We live in a joint family and each of us brothers, has a different equation with her. We brothers think alike when it comes to values and our feeling for our parents. We all take her for granted. She has always divided everything into three equal parts for all three of us. We studied, as my mother insisted in Latur that her children go to English medium schools. She would take our homework, cook food and look after us. She has always been there for us. Today, we have to be there for her.
You recently tweeted about missing your father on getting a National award for producing the Marathi film Yellow. What made you miss him? My father was a great believer in the Constitution of India and the office of the President. And thus for him getting an honour from the President and that too, for the work you do, was a big deal. And that I had got it for a Marathi film. Mr Pranab Mukherjee was the last President he voted for in Parliament, before he passed away. I remember when I walked up on stage, the President looked at me and gave me a big smile. My father and he had worked together for so many years and I could feel his warmth with just his one handshake and his look of happiness for me.
Talk about your wife Genelia? She acted with me in my first film. We first became best friends and then midway through the film, we started seeing each other. We were seeing each other for 10 years before we decided to get married in 2012. Genelia and I are one person, we are not two people. Falling in love with your friend and that becoming your life is the best thing that can happen to a person. I love her energy and her smile. She will always put me ahead of herself on any given day, which is endearing. Coming from a profession where as an actor you only think of yourself, be it a frame, a scene or a film or how you are projected, it made her even more special. We are similar in terms of thinking, our likes and our value system. We both like simple things and are not materialistic. For example, we both would like to go and eat bhelpuri. She never let me buy a gift for her while we were dating, as she doesn't like receiving gifts. Whenever I did, there was a strict rule on how it could not exceed a certain basic price. She is very uncomfortable accepting gifts. She initially ignored me and hated me, as I was the CM's son, thinking that I would be arrogant. I always followed two things my father taught me. One, that the only thing constant in life is you being what you are, everything around you is temporary be it power, hits or flops. What lasts is what kind of person you are. And secondly, that you should have self-respect. I would want respect from anyone that I meet and for that, I will always give respect. Of course, unlike Genelia who knows how to prioritise her life completely between her work and family, my time management is pathetic and something, both she and my mom don't like about me.
Did you use your education as an architect? I am still a practising architect. The first official project I did was designing Shah Rukh Khan's Red Chillies office in Khar. He called me to say, 'Are you an architect? Will you design my building?' I did. Recently, I have also designed Karan Johar's house.
Do you have friends in the industry? Sajid Khan and Karan Johar are my friends. Sajid is someone who is the complete opposite of me. For instance, he can unabashedly have conversations with anyone on anything. As a friend, he is all heart. His friendship has no logic. Whenever you need him, he will be there. You may or may not be in a bad mood, but if he thinks you are, he will call you and say, 'Okay, I will tell you a joke.' He will not think twice before calling me and saying, 'I didn't like what you said' and he will say it on my face. What is most endearing about Karan is his quality of being able to make you comfortable. He is also very sensitive and will listen to you.
While we completely understand your need for privacy, for the record, is Genelia pregnant? Yes, she is and we are looking forward to the baby and are very excited about it.
How did you come into films? I was born in Latur, where my father was a local politician and lived there till the age of five, when my father became a minister and we moved to Mumbai. I changed two schools in Mumbai, before I was moved with my older brother to a hostel in Panchgani, as my father was not a minister and, thus, we did not have a house in Mumbai. My mother, at this time, moved back with my younger brother Dheeraj to Latur. In 1986, my father again became a minister and that's when we came back to Mumbai and our formal education started. After finishing school, I went to Kamla Raheja School of Architecture and completed my architecture degree. I was going to New York to work for a year, but met my father's friend Subhash Ghai before leaving. He was building Whistling Woods at that time. Subhashji was going to shoot Yaadein in London and invited me on his set to see the shoot on my way to New York. I said, 'Wow, I will get to see Hrithik Roshan.' I went on the set and spent a few days there and then moved to New York. I was 23 then. There was a friend of mine, who had left architecture with me, but was assisting Subhashji and was visiting New York when I was there. I was looking at taking up some creative courses there and he suggested I do theatre workshops, as that would help me understand people better. After a year-and-a-half, the DOP of Yaadein who had seen me in London asked my director friend if I was interested in acting. I was a big fan of Shah Rukh Khan and have grown up on Hindi films. I used to watch five films a day, do my homework on movies and sometimes even watch the same movie 10 times. As a family, we would often go out for movies. I had never thought of becoming an actor, but through that DOP I got my first film Tujhe Meri Kasam, made by Ramoji Rao, as he was also the DOP on that film. My father, by this time, was the Chief Minister of Maharashtra and I had to go and take his permission. While it took me 10 days to sum up the courage to ask him, contrary to what I thought, he said, 'Go, do it,' and I became an actor.
Talk about your father? He started as a law student and became the sarpanch in his village. He was the only Chief Minister to have been a sarpanch. Nehru's idea of the Panchayati Raj was how the leader of the village i.e. sarpanch should lead the state and he was an example of that. He was always jovial and never carried his stress home. I respected him immensely, seeing the respect people gave him. Whenever he came home, we would all go from our room to his room. He would eat only at home whatever time he came. I know he didn't have too much time, but whatever time he gave us, was ours. As children, every year we would tour for 10 days and go to places like Taj Mahal or Tirupati in a train, with our dabbas opened up on newspaper, playing cards and singing antakshari. Nothing can be worse than losing your dad. I remember him everyday and there has never been a single day when I have gone out and not heard stories about things he has done for people. After losing him, I understand why one suddenly grows up when you lose your father. Thankfully, I had both my brothers to hold my hands and I was holding theirs, which made it easier as you don't feel alone. Suddenly, your mother becomes your priority. Today, she is the person I love the most in the world. She binds our family and is the focal point of our lives. We live in a joint family and each of us brothers, has a different equation with her. We brothers think alike when it comes to values and our feeling for our parents. We all take her for granted. She has always divided everything into three equal parts for all three of us. We studied, as my mother insisted in Latur that her children go to English medium schools. She would take our homework, cook food and look after us. She has always been there for us. Today, we have to be there for her.
You recently tweeted about missing your father on getting a National award for producing the Marathi film Yellow. What made you miss him? My father was a great believer in the Constitution of India and the office of the President. And thus for him getting an honour from the President and that too, for the work you do, was a big deal. And that I had got it for a Marathi film. Mr Pranab Mukherjee was the last President he voted for in Parliament, before he passed away. I remember when I walked up on stage, the President looked at me and gave me a big smile. My father and he had worked together for so many years and I could feel his warmth with just his one handshake and his look of happiness for me.
Talk about your wife Genelia? She acted with me in my first film. We first became best friends and then midway through the film, we started seeing each other. We were seeing each other for 10 years before we decided to get married in 2012. Genelia and I are one person, we are not two people. Falling in love with your friend and that becoming your life is the best thing that can happen to a person. I love her energy and her smile. She will always put me ahead of herself on any given day, which is endearing. Coming from a profession where as an actor you only think of yourself, be it a frame, a scene or a film or how you are projected, it made her even more special. We are similar in terms of thinking, our likes and our value system. We both like simple things and are not materialistic. For example, we both would like to go and eat bhelpuri. She never let me buy a gift for her while we were dating, as she doesn't like receiving gifts. Whenever I did, there was a strict rule on how it could not exceed a certain basic price. She is very uncomfortable accepting gifts. She initially ignored me and hated me, as I was the CM's son, thinking that I would be arrogant. I always followed two things my father taught me. One, that the only thing constant in life is you being what you are, everything around you is temporary be it power, hits or flops. What lasts is what kind of person you are. And secondly, that you should have self-respect. I would want respect from anyone that I meet and for that, I will always give respect. Of course, unlike Genelia who knows how to prioritise her life completely between her work and family, my time management is pathetic and something, both she and my mom don't like about me.
Did you use your education as an architect? I am still a practising architect. The first official project I did was designing Shah Rukh Khan's Red Chillies office in Khar. He called me to say, 'Are you an architect? Will you design my building?' I did. Recently, I have also designed Karan Johar's house.
Do you have friends in the industry? Sajid Khan and Karan Johar are my friends. Sajid is someone who is the complete opposite of me. For instance, he can unabashedly have conversations with anyone on anything. As a friend, he is all heart. His friendship has no logic. Whenever you need him, he will be there. You may or may not be in a bad mood, but if he thinks you are, he will call you and say, 'Okay, I will tell you a joke.' He will not think twice before calling me and saying, 'I didn't like what you said' and he will say it on my face. What is most endearing about Karan is his quality of being able to make you comfortable. He is also very sensitive and will listen to you.
While we completely understand your need for privacy, for the record, is Genelia pregnant? Yes, she is and we are looking forward to the baby and are very excited about it.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news-interviews/Yes-Genelia-is-pregnant-and-we-are-both-very-excited-about-it-Riteish-Deshmukh/articleshow/36150341.cms
comment:
p_commentcount