Actor Ranvir Shorey feels his potential hasn’t been tapped by the mainstream cinema and he finds his existence in the alternative, independent films more relevant. The 44-year-old actor, known for his performances in films like Mithya, Titli, and Khosla Ka Ghosla, feels he doesn’t relate to commercial cinema’s lesser sensible approach.
“I haven’t got the kind of films from mainstream cinema which I would have wanted. But then mainstream cinema has a different bunch of people who are happy working with each other which is fine.
“I have more of an existence in the alternative, independent model. There’s a watering down of sensibilities in commercial films and I don’t seem to fit into that,” Ranvir told PTI.
The actor says big films are revenue driven but he prefers to stick to creative satisfaction. “These big stars and filmmakers are smarter than me but when they make films for the lowest common denominator, I have a trouble fitting into that model. I can’t dumb down for the audience because I believe my audience is at least as smart as I am.
“There are two different ways of doing it. They (people who are part of commercial cinema) are driven by revenue and I am driven by creative satisfaction.” Ranvir says his aim is to constantly strengthen the independent cinema and to make it stand in front of huge “commercial Bollywood” projects.
“When you hear Bollywood, you think about everything mainstream, song-and-dance, hero-heroine. I don’t think that will ever go away. In fact, Bollywood has become culturally so huge that it consumes everything that is outside it.
“From my end, I try to strengthen the independent section. Many of my colleagues and I do films, which push the envelope and try to bring some change,” he said. Ranvir will now be seen in Moh Maaya Money, a thriller, co-starring Neha Dhupia.
The film, directed by debutant Munish Bhardwaj, is about a young real estate agent, who tries to pull off a scam, but things go wrong. Ranvir says the film has become more relevant after demonetisation of currency. “Moh Maya Money has become extremely relevant now because of demonetisation. The story has black money as its backdrop and black money is what everyone has been talking about these days.
“It is a thriller set in Delhi. I play a middle-class guy. This is a space accessible to me because I have played middle-class Delhiites in my previous films.” The movie is scheduled to release on November 25.
PTI