Hyderabad
September 12, 2006

Mohit Ahlawat is the new find of Ram Gopal Varma and he grabbed three offers from RGV Factory. His debut film ‘James’ did not get cash registers ringing. His second film Shiva 2006 (a sequel to Shiva) is all set to release on 14th of September. He is going to do Amitab Bachchan’s role in the remake of Ram Gopal Varma’s Sholay. He was recently in Hyderabad city to promote Shiva 2006. Idlebrain.com met with this actor for chitchat at Liquids Pub. Here are the excerpts -

Background:
I am basically from Panipat, Haryana. My grandfather retired from British Army. I was no way related to film industry before joining films. I went to Broadway to watch plays and then learned a lot of things by staying in backstage.

I was going to Dubai and stayed in my family friend Bhushan Kumar’s (T Series) house in Mumbai for two days. I was bitten by the charm and glamour of film industry. My stayed continued in Mumbai and I cancelled my Dubai trip.

I was 138 kgs when I came to Mumbai. I knew that I had a good face and nice height. But my weight was an embarrassing attribute. I decided to reduce my weight. In 45 days I came down to 77kg. I did a lot of wrong things. I went on full crash dieting. I used to eat only one egg white, one bowl of rice and one tomato per day. I used to workout for 8 hours. I became very weak after I shed my weight. I had stomach problems for the next six months. I used to get blackout for the next two months. Then I consulted fitness people and maintained my body following their suggestions.

At the same time I wanted to work with Ram Gopal Varma. I was fascinated Rangeela. Satya made lot of impact on me. I met Ramu and things worked for me.

What went wrong with James?
I was not satisfied. There was never a script for James. The director did not do an honest job. He just wanted to a direct a film and he did James. Ramu designed the initial train sequence of the film and left the rest of the film to the director. The director could not carry it forward from that point. Ramu could not concentrate on James as he was busy in Sarkar. There are some wrong emotions in James. James would be hiding as his girlfriend is dying.

You are doing more of action films. Are you interested in soft roles too?
Right now I am doing action oriented roles only. Ram Gopal Varma wants me to play an angry young man in his films and I am satisfying him now. I am an actor and it is my duty to satisfy my director. If my next director wants me to do soft role, I would do without any hesitation. Actors are like puppets in the hands of directors.

Tell us about your character in Shiva 2006?
The dialogues in the film are limited and are mostly one-liners. There is more importance to emotions, expressions and postures than dialogues.

Are you following Shiva (1989) as reference?
I deliberately decided not to watch Shiva film the moment I signed for Shiva 2006. I don’t want to get influenced by the original. Same is the case with Sholay. I stopped watching my favorite film Sholay the moment Ramu announced that I would be playing the role of Amitab Bachchan.

Did you do any homework for Sholay?
I am a huge fan of Amitab and I grew up watching Sholay. Amitab is like Superman and Spiderman to me when I was a kid. Amitab is a legend and I can’t be like him. Ramu explained me how I should do that role in Sholay and I would follow him.

Your fights in James were good. Did you have any formal training?
I earned black belt in Karate when I was studying 8th class. I am lucky that I am getting good action choreographers for my films.

How much time do you spend on working out?
I spend around two hours a day. It is like a stress release for me. If I don’t workout, I don’t get sleep. Working out is like meditation to me. I feel restless if I don’t go through pain.

Do you want to act in straight Telugu films?
First I need to learn language. I don’t want to be a fake actor where somebody else dub for you. If you don’t understand language, you can’t give your best. I will learn Telugu completely before getting into Telugu films.

Who is your favorite actor?
Amitab Bachchan.

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