By Subhash K Jha
Paresh Rawal has said goodbye to comedies, at least for now. You see him creating laughter in film after film, the most recent being De Dana Dan. But Paresh is in no mood to laugh any more.
His family life in recent months has been grim (to put it mildly). Plus the quality of comedies being offered is no more a laughing matter for Paresh.
“One often ends up doing films for friends or because one needs to work within the given limitations. But enough is enough now, ” sighs Paresh who lost his brother-in-law in November. “It all happened so suddenly, we didn't know what hit us.”
Paresh would rather not spend his working hours creating mirth of no worth. It is no coincidence that his next two releases do not subscribe to the funny stuff.The mightily talented Paresh who was getting a tad tired of constantly doing comedy has now returned to villainy in Ram Gopal Varma's Rann twenty years after he switched to doing comic roles.
And frankly, Paresh is relieved.
Says the versatile actor, “When Rann was offered to me I wondered what it would be like to return to a negative role after so long. But it's a fantastic role of a wily politician who manipulates the media to his own advantage.I just couldn't resist it.I've worked with Ramu in Telugu cinema and in Satya. But it's good to return to another genre and to Ramu after so long.”
The role according to the film's director Ram Gopal Varma is based on a real-life politician who recently figured in a scam scandal. The neta in the news shall go unnamed.
Interestingly Paresh has another release, a very contrasting one, on the same day as Rann in which he again plays a real- life character.
Says Paresh, “In Road To Sangam I am Hasmatullah the real-life motor mechanic in Allahabad who was enstusted the responsibility of belatedly repairing the car carrying Mahatma Gandhi's ashes to the Ganga. This incident really happened.
And Hasmatullah really exists, though the latter part of the story where Muslim organizations protest against one of their ilk helping a Hindu cause, is made up.”
Paresh says he has no fear of audiences seeing him in these two contrasting roles on the same Friday.
“In one I am a dark and evil politician. In the other I'm completely driven by the sense of nobility. It's a wonderful contrast. And most important these are not comic parts. I'm enjoying the challenge of moving into a different moral zones. I'm sure the audience will enjoy it too.”
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