SLOW MARCH

RANDEEP HOODA IS PLAYING THE BOLLYWOOD GAME AT his OWN PACE AND ON HIS OWN TERMS

- POOJA BIRAIA JAISWAL

With his chiselled face, sharp jawline, the build of a Jat and the rugged looks of a supermodel, one might have thought that Randeep Hooda would have been a shoo-in to the hallowed halls of Bollywood. Not so. For years, his love affair with Tinseltown was a one-sided one. For 11 years in a 22-year-long career, I have not gone toa film set even for a day,” he tells THE WEEK. He came to the city of dreams as a naive 24-year-old, his flight ticket sponsored by a friend. He was the alluring antidote to the prevailing chocolate boy archetype of Hindi cinema, epitomised by the Khans and the Kumars. Yet, he played the game at his own pace and on his own terms.

“I have taken it slow, because it is not a brickand-mortar job,” he says. Here, you are rearranging something within yourself, because for every film you adopt certain ways, thoughts and speech patterns. To get rid of them requires an equal amount of time. So, it is just not possible to go from one project to another.’ He is an articulate speaker, with much to say about films, sports and music, occasionally slipping into philosophical rants that are just as interesting.