‘In Marathi, I choose the subject. In Bollywood, subjects choose me’

Actor Riteish Deshmukh has geared up slowly and gradually and in recent years, he has been able to strike a balance between Hindi and Marathi cinema. Soon to hit the silver screen with the third instalment of Dhamaal series, Riteish has three Bollywood movies releasing this year - Total Dhamaal, Marjaavan and Housefull 4.  

While promoting his upcoming film Total Dhamaal, the actor can be seen sporting a thick beard, something that led his co-star Ajay Devgn to roast him publicly on Twitter. “This is for my film Marjaavan,” explains the 41-year-old actor without divulging any information about his next film.

Although the actor has been a part of several commercial films, he didn’t have a breakthrough in Bollywood. This could perhaps be the reason for him to explore Marathi cinema. “I enjoy producing films in Marathi and acting in them as well.  I can choose my subjects there whereas, in Bollywood, the subjects choose me. I can decide whether I want to act or not,” says Riteish.

The actor is equally invested in his kids and sharing his parenting style, he says, “My children are happy. Now, there are happy hours in their curriculum where they are allowed to do whatever that pleases them. While studying, children should be allowed to engage themselves to do what they feel happy to do. At some point, they will get bored and it is then that they are like to turn attention to studies and thus they come back to learning.”

The actor also gives the state of happiness great importance and says, “I had a very happy childhood. At every stage in life, you have to be happy. If you are happy, you will make others happy. I have enjoyed my school where the process of learning was interactive. That process helped me to grow. Also, having joined this creative field “Cinema”, I feel happy. If I was in some other profession I would have been unhappy.”
He further stresses on the inclusion of happiness hours in the school curriculum. “Education system main change hona jaruri hai (Education system needs changes). I want happiness hours in school. Children should be happy. Kids need that break. We all live in so much stress that we need a break. Like, how we as actors too wish to perform emotional as well comedy roles that make us feel happy and stressfree for at least that many hours, similarly children need some kind of stress buster. I advocate happy hours for children even in schools i.e. whenever they feel like discontinuing their classes they should be allowed to do so.”

On keeping his kids away from the paparazzi, he says, “I consciously keep my children away from media. They are too young and they should not be stressed. However, watching our films and seeing me working constantly in films, my children feel that all the parents of children work in films.”

In 2013,  Riteish made his debut as a film producer with Marathi film ‘Balak Palak’ that received a warm reception. When asked if he would be making its Hindi remake, Riteish says, “It would be difficult. I was looking for a digital opportunity even though I think it should go to the theatres but spending so much money on P&A (print and advertising) would be difficult.”

On his next film ‘Shivaji’, he says, “I will decide everything soon. It’s not a film, it’s a responsibility. Any historical figure is great but Shivaji is a god-like figure to all of us. And, there are so many different versions so, it's a tightrope walk. Whether I will perform the role of Shivaji will also be decided soon.”

But, what is the success mantra of a film? “Everything boils down to what people want. Filmmaking is a collective effort. Sometimes, the films do well and sometimes they don’t despite the publicity. Everything has to align properly. Whether it will do well or not, it will affect everyone. We need cushioning but budgets are also increasing,” he concludes.