Bitchy humour is the best: Ritesh Deshmukh

Since architect-actor Ritesh Deshmukh started his Bollywood innings in 2003, he has clocked an average of three films a year. A comic streak runs through his personal and professional life making him one of Bollywood’s most loved persons — a rarity in the toxic industry. He speaks to Rubina A Khan about the glamorous  life in between filming a song and dance routine on the sets of Double Dhamaal in Mumbai.

Describe the character played by you in Double Dhamaal. The film begins where we left off in Dhamaal. There are two teams this time – Sanjay Dutt, Mallika Sherawat and Kangna Ranaut, and the four of us – Arshad Warsi, Aashish Chowdhry, Javed Jaffery and me.

We try to outdo each other cat and mouse, Tom and Jerry style, in this con job caper. Apart from being a smart con film, it is also a physical comedy. We play one character each but with at least four different looks; like I play a Chinese guy, an overweight Gujarati man, a Jamaican guy. Extra elements in our physical appearances add humour to the parts. The film releases on 24 June.

Have you resigned yourself to comic portrayals for now or do you intend to get into the action genre at some point? Since all my comic acts worked and the films were successful, those are the roles I get offered most of the time. I enjoy comedy immensely, though I have tried to diversify and do films like Rann, Naach, Alladin and a rom-com like Jaane Kahan se Aayi Hai. But they failed. So right now, I am sticking to what comes to me — and it’s comedy.

You are the Mr. Congeniality of Bollywood despite having a wicked, bitchy side. Everyone loves you. Is it because they really do or just because you pose no threat to them on the professional front? I am a threat to no one! I am glad that there is enough love for me in the business. I have always felt the love of my colleagues and friends. I’m happy in the space I have created for myself and try and better myself with every film I do.

When two people meet, an inexplicable chemistry leads them to becoming friends. Being a nice person is not the reason one is loved. I have always been the non-violent sort. I have never slapped anyone or been slapped by anyone; no fights whatsoever. Bitchy humour is the best and the most entertaining. I enjoy bitching as long as it is not laced with malice or runs someone down. Just today I told Arshad, ‘I never thought of being an actor,’ and he retorted, ‘You should have stuck to that’ and we laughed uproariously for a good five minutes after that. I know what to say to whom and when. The topics I choose to speak on with various people are a balance between sensitivity and sensibility really.

You played a fantastic role in Apna Sapna Money Money as a woman. After that, there have been many a joke on your sexual orientation, and you don’t seem to mind. You actually make jokes on the subject now… I am not bothered by it anymore. Back then, a journalist asked me if I was gay. I found the question extremely offensive but replied to it. I said I was heterosexual and not gay. It went to print with the headline ‘I am not gay’. It went viral with other journalists and it has become a joke since.

Now, you might think why did I answer the question in the first place. The answer is simple – if I hadn’t, it would have gone back as ‘Ritesh refused to answer the question about him being gay’. So, I am damned if I do and damned if I don’t. As long as I am at peace with myself, the rumours become trivial and cease to affect me.

You have been furniture shopping in Milan lately for your interior designing assignments and have launched your own production company too… As you know, I am an architect too and have my own firm. I find it relaxing to design, though execution is a bitch. It takes about 12-18 months to do the interiors of one project. I am personally doing three of my friends’ homes and my firm is handling the others. I go to the Milan furniture expo every year for a week in April to see new advancements in lighting, furniture and interiors; I enjoy it very much.

I have started my own production company called Mumbai Film Company – a straight and simple name, instead of all the fancy names thrown at me. My first production is a Marathi film. I intend to produce films in Hindi too since I know only two languages in cinema, but at a later stage.

You have worked with Indian cinema’s biggest legend, Amitabh Bachchan. Any actor you haven’t worked with and would like to? I would love to work with Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan. Though I’ve shared screen time with Shah Rukh in a song in Heyy Baby, I haven’t had the opportunity to work with Salman at all. I respect them a lot. My condition for loving anyone stems from respect.