“Romance is life”-Rohit Roy[Rahul]

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Shruti

@shruti

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Posted: 19 years ago

"Romance is life"

After playing the hot-headed Karan in Sarrkarr, Rohit Roy is all set to woo the audience with his loverboy act opposite the sensuous Sangeeta Ghosh in Viraasat ...
Good-looking, friendly and an outrageous flirt, that's Rohit Roy for you. At parties you always find him rollicking in the company of a lovely lass. This small-screen casanova is married to actress Manasi Joshi, but that doesn't stop him from being the quintessential ladies' man. Tell him that and Rohit swears, much to our disbelief, that he is not the exuberant guy he's made out to be! "In reality I am a very close and private person," he grins. He, however, agrees that he is a die-hard romantic. "Life for me is romance and romance is life," he says unabashedly. The last time he did something romantic was when he took his wife for a candlelight dinner, to a newly-opened restaurant at the Taj, on her birthday. "They make very good Sushi and both of us are fond of it. We spend three hours chatting,"says Rohit fondly. No wonder, the character he is playing in Virasat is a cake-walk for him. "For the first time I am playing a romantic lead and I am thoroughly enjoying it," grins the actor who has hitherto played hot-headed characters in most of his serials. He was lasat seen in Sarrkkar in which he played a very dramatic, aggressive role as Karan Pratap Singh. "It was a dynamic role. But Karan was so intense and demanding that it left me completely exhausted at the end of the day," he informs. Virasat, he feels, is in a way rejuvenating him. Rahul Lamba, the characer Rohit plays, is a relaxed and a laid-back guy in love. "He's like Akshaye Khanna of Taal," quips Rohit. "Rahul is a lover, he believes in the power of love and trusts everyone blindly till the situation becomes bad," says the actor. Though he identifies with the loverboy, he says that unlike Rahul, he's not the kind of a person to take things lying down. Any talk of Virasat is incomplete without the famous lovemaking scenes between Rohit and Sangeeta Ghosh. Surprisingly, it was Rohit who was hesitant of doing the steamy scenes. "TV is a medium that reaches homes and I have a responsibility towards the people watching it. Even my three-and-a-half year old daughter Kiara will be a part of the audience, so I was quite apprehensive. But Sangeeta Ghosh is one of the most professional actresses I have worked with. She is so secure in herself that she went out of her way to make me comfortable," says the actor who promptly dispatched a thank you message to his sexy co-star after the shot was canned.

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Interestingly, Rohit was marked out for another role in the serial by STAR which had recommended him to producer Ravi Chopra, when he was scouting for the cast. " When I met Ravi, he looked at me and said, 'I'll have some good news for you in two days' which could have also meant a polite way of saying No," laughs Rohit. Two days later, he got a call from BR Films informing him that he was chosen to play the lead. In the meantime, Rohit got a SOS call from Gajendra Singh who was looking for an anchor to step into the shoes of Shaan who left Sa Re Ga Ma Pa due to some prior committments. Rohit, who has a good ear for music and has effortlessly anhored Dance Dance on Zoom was initially not very keen. "It was the biggest challenge for me to replace Shaan who has been the face of Sa Re ... for over four years," says Rohit. "When I told Manasi about it, she said I should go for it. So, for the first time, I went against my gut instinct and accepted the offer," he reveals. He, however, hadn't seen many episodes and wasn't clued on to the show. Nor did he have time to prepare for it. He got a call out of the blue one Friday, he gave his acceptance on Saturday and started shooting from Monday. "Gajendra and Ishita Arun were very helpful," he says and a few rehearsals later, Rohit was a pro and today he has successfully taken Shaan's place in the viewers' minds. "Both Shaan and Ishita are good friends of mine and it wasn't difficult for me to get into the groove," says Rohit who shares a good onscreen chemistry with Ishita. Not only that, Rohit, being extremely emotional, is easily moved by the contestant's highs and lows. "All my feelings that come across on the show are genuine," he avers and reiterates that singers Ujjaini and Aishwarya are his favourites. "Not just because she is a fellow Bengali but when you hear Ujjaini, you will realise that she even converses in sur," he says completely bowled over by the young upcoming singer. Rohit recently floated a production house Magic Works alongwith wife Manasi. "Getting into production is the logical step for any actor," he states. The company is planning to adapt an international bestseller book as their first venture. According to Rohit, it will be a benchmark serial on Indian television. A family drama, the serial will introduce two new girls while established names will play the character roles. Neither Rohit nor Manasi will be acting in it, simply, because Manasi wants to concentrate on being a creative producer and Rohit doesn't have the time, though there is one role for him. A chat show on social issues with Manasi as the anchor is also in the pipeline. "Manasi has a pleasant demeanour, but is known for her strong roles which makes her the ideal host for the show we are planning," says Rohit who believes that there is a lot of 'candyfloss' on TV but none of the shows is dealing with the "real issues". The couple is planning to present the show to Zoom. Apart from his banner, Rohit is also excited about his Neha Dhupia-Jimmy Shergill-starrer Delhi Heights which has him playing, what else, but a casanova. "He's the kind who believes that even when a woman is happily married, if she is attracted to someone else she should go for him," says Rohit who doesn't want to say more because it would give the story away. The actor also has in his kitty four other films including a romantic role opposite a girl "who'll will be a pleasant surprise for the audience," in Meghna Gulzar's Honeymoon starring Fardeen Khan and Esha Deol. He's playing a terrorist in Apoorva Lakhia's encounter film Shootout At Lokhandwala along with Viveik Oberoi and Tusshar Kapoor. The other films he's doing include Dus Kahaniya, a series of ten short stories and Sanjay Gupta's Alibagh. Recently Rohit shot the Dabur Chyawanprash commercial with superstar Amitabh Bachchan "which was a dream come true." The Big B has always been Rohit's inspiration and working with him, albiet for a commerical, is something which he will cherish forever.