EXCLUSIVE | 'Mission Raniganj' actor Ravi Kishan: 'Akshay Kumar was called a non-actor, but he became such a big star'

Ravi Kishan and Pavan Malhotra are all geared up for their upcoming film Mission Raniganj: The Great Bharat Rescue that also stars Akshay Kumar and Parineeti Chopra. Based on a true event of what remains one of the greatest stories ever to unfold in India about the escape of 57 minor workers, Kumar plays the role of Jaswant Singh Gill, the man who built a capsule to free those miners from their claustrophobic miseries. Kishan plays one of the workers trapped beneath and Malhotra too plays a crucial role. In an exclusive interview with Firspost, the two veterans opened up about the experience of essaying this story on the big screen, working with Akshay Kumar again, and what they have taken away after playing their respective characters. Edited excerpts from the interview How was the prep for the two of you like for the film? Ravi: I never played a miner before. I have worked in over 700 films and been directed by everyone, from Shyam Benegal to Mani Ratnam to Anurag Kashyap, but this was a role I never played so it got me really excited. I had to understand their psyche and how they approach death everyday in their lives. I am claustrophobic in real life so I used to think how they manage to go 350 feet below and survive in such less oxygen. I was also fascinated to see the mines of Jharkhand being recreated in London. Pavan: I was asked to wear a wig, which I was avoiding. I used to wear my wig from the hotel itself and report on the sets 30 minutes in advance. In my 40 years as an actor, this is how I have always worked. This is your second film with Tinu Desai after Rustom. How was this story pitched to you? Pavan: I was in Delhi for some family work and got a video call from the director. He waited for a very long time to make his next film after Rustom and also may have waited and tried for producers and actors, but he stuck to it. He told me a brief of the storyline and spoke about my character. He also told me I was his first and last choice for the role. I liked the story and also thought why a story like this wasn’t told before, even I was unaware of it. It’s a story on heroism, they say if you make a difference to one life, you have achieved something in life. This man, Jaswant Gill, made a difference to 57 lives, he rescued those miners when anything could have happened, the gas had started leaking. A journalist informed me the other day this incident is enlisted in the Guinness Book of World Records.

How was your experience of working with the director? Ravi: This film wouldn’t have been possible without him, and Vashu Bhagnani. Such films are made only once in every 20 years, so the credit goes to both of them, to make a film like this amid the pandemic when everything was shut. Pavan: From Rustom till now, there’s no growth in him and he’s still the same, and it’s a good thing; I’ll tell you why. He knew exactly what he wanted, and even Akshay Kumar was supposed to follow what he instructed all of us on the sets. I’m not exaggerating but nobody has ever seen him sitting on the sets, he keeps running from one corner to another and is always very meticulous. And I like working with such people as I’m also the same. Ravi, you have done so many films with Akshay Kumar. How do you see his growth as an actor? He’s amazing, the way he has honed himself in fitness and even acting. People used to call him a non-actor but he has completely changed himself as an artist. He proved himself and became such a big star, he delivered such a beautiful performance in OMG 2. There’s a lot to learn from him.

Pavan Malhotra, how do you see your journey in Hindi cinema? In my body of work, I have always told stories that are important to the society or stories that should’ve been told. Mission Raniganj is one them. After making a critically acclaimed and commercially successful film like Rustom, Tinu still took seven years to make his next film, maybe because actors may not have said yes to the script. Finally, when Akshay Kumar said yes, Vashu Bhagnani said yes, the film eventually got made. It’s a big film. This is my third film with Akshay after Rustom and OMG 2, and all of them are some of the most important films of our respective careers. Akshay Kumar is very grounded and a positive person. The same is with Shah Rukh Khan, I really enjoyed working with them. My journey has been very good, right from Salim Langde Pe Mat Ro to Black Friday’s Tiger Memon to playing Punjabi characters in Tabbar and Mubarakan, I really work on my characters. What do you have to say about the way content has evolved post the advent of OTT? Ravi: It gave spotlight to a lot of actors that were in the dark for long. I just did Khakee on Netflix, I’m also doing a couple of other shows, so this platform has helped actors like me a lot.

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