Randeep Hooda says at Irrfan’s funeral, nobody could really hug each other: That’s the new normal we’ll soon have to get used to

Actor Randeep Hooda talks about how to make the most of this lockdown, adds that he’s not someone who’s interested in letting know what he’s doing or eating or how he is working out inside his house.

Whether it’s through social media or otherwise, Randeep Hooda doesn’t really let anyone enter his personal space. And the actor is following the same mantra amid lockdown, too. Isolating in his Mumbai apartment with his puppy, the actor says he’s missing “photography, my horses and working on a film set”. However, he’s glad to have a lot of spare time now and also because his Hollywood film released on the web at a time when everyone else is at home not working. In a freewheeling chat, Hooda, 43, talks about looking at the brighter side of the lockdown, relief work he has done for the forest people, the ‘new normal’, his films on hold, and why he won’t give in to the social media temptation.

Actor Randeep Hooda has helped 400 families in need in a Tiger Reserve whose livelihoods depend on wildlife tourists.

So, how are you making the most of this time at home?

Usually, it’s preparing for a role or something but now, I’m doing voice exercises on the harmonium, imagination exercises, going back to the stories I used to do on stage, contemplating on staging a production, and then reading scripts, books, poetry, watching and catching up on shows that I’ve not caught up on because these long shows always seem like a lot of commitment. And I used to start them, but now I’ve gone through some of them and they are just fantastic.

Over 40 days into the lockdown... has there been a moment you felt low or lonely and wished all this should just come to an end now?

Honestly, now (after extension) it’s getting a bit much, but till now, I’ve been dealing with it well. We collectively have to get through these feelings and help each other, help humanity, the whole planet and our country, so it’s necessary. Once you think about the larger good that (this lockdown) is doing, it takes away a lot of the down feeling that you’re getting.

Do you miss your family, your parents? How are they doing?

My mother and father are quarantining in Faridabad, which is not far from my sister’s house. They’re well, and absolutely isolated as I am. My whole family’s doing fine. They watched my movie (Extraction) without me being there and I was just getting their feedback on phone and they’re very elated.

What about not being able to go out for work given all shootings have been stalled until further notice?

As far as work goes work, it doesn’t only happen when you’re at your desk or at your job or for me, on my set. There’s a lot of work to do otherwise also, so I’d say, during this time, think of the things that you used to like doing as a child and do that. It’ll bring out more of the child within us and we’ll find wonders in the corners of her house which, we have probably forgotten.

Can you already sense what the ‘new normal’ is going to look like once all this is over and we reset our lives?

I went to Irrfan’s funeral (April 29); he was buried right next to my house. There I realised that nobody could really hug anybody (pauses), so that’s the new normal we all have to get used to. We, (Indians) are very affectionate, and physical people. So, the whole thing of looking at the other person and thinking twice about getting in their personal space, is something that’s definitely going to change. Also, we’ll have more individualism in the world, which I feel should enrich the lives. I’m hoping that as a collective, we come out as a better race, a better humankind and a better species that’s more considerate and compassionate.

At such a time, being constantly fed by positivity is also very important. But the amount of negative news we read on Twitter,is it worrisome and bogs you down as well?

There is a whole world inside Twitter, especially the one that’s arguing about things which are only relevant in the Twitter world. In the real world, nobody really gives a damn. And so many of these issues that they talk about are just conversations and arguments,not even healthy argument, they are just finger pointing within the the Twitter world. It is a very negative platform, I mean they’re fighting and squabbling over little things, ideas, little statements, and that’s to much. I ignore that and I look for positivity even there.

Also, most actors are all out there on social media giving glimpses into their daily routine. Why don’t we see you post anything about your lockdown tales? You seem to be totally refraining from this temptation... any reason?

I don’t know why would I want people to know what I’m doing inside my house? I have absolutely no interest in that. When it’s my work, I like to share pictures and experiences, not what I’m doing, what I’m eating, how I am working out and all... I really have no interest in watching other people do that, so I also do not think my photos would be of any interest to anybody else.

So when you see all these cooking, cleaning, working out pictures on the social media, do you get annoyed with the overload?

I think it’s the need to reach out to people to feel connected, which is okay in this time. Social media has taken over our lives in a lot of aspects. We are sharing a lot more of our lives, even I am, not to that extent, but still. It’s a way of connecting to people and you feel like, ‘oh, so many people I’ve interacted with my thoughts or what I posted’, so it has got its good and bad. Like in life, you have to look at the good part and forget the other part. But I really feel to each his own. Whether it is their opinion, or what they want to post, absolutely do what you feel like... and if I don’t like it, I can just ignore it.

Besides this, not much is known about the kind of contribution you have made towards Covid-19 relief fund. Tell us something about that.

I’ve contributed my bit to the PM Relief Fund, and for Matheran horses. Also, we did this pilot campaign called #FriendInNeed for Tadoba Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra for this whole lot of forest people — guides, drivers, hotel staff — whose livelihood depends on the forest. Through this project, we are paying directly to the field director of the park. Through a Facebook community page called CLAW (Conservation Lenses & Wildlife), along with one of my friends, Sarosh Lodhi, we did a census and found 400 families in need. So, local vendors there, with the help of the forest department, are distributing essentials. We kept it completely non photo-op because I’ve seen some terrible photos of one person receiving things from 13 people and we didn’t want that.

Are you saying you are against the idea of getting pictures clicked while helping the needy and doing something for a cause?

That is becoming a bit of a thing, but I don’t completely knock it out, because as long as your giving, it doesn’t matter. If you want to be known about it, great. I mean, there is nothing wrong with it. As long as the help reaches, whether you want to talk about it or you don’t want to talk about it, it’s up to you. One thing this crisis has taught us is that whole humanity has come together, and we are helping each other. We have got a very big population and it’s very hard to reach out to everyone, but whoever has come under the system and has followed the rules (have adhaar cards and bank accounts), it has been easier to help.

Your Hollywood film Extraction released two weeks ago amid lockdown — it must have been a blessing in disguise for so many more people who are at home got to watch it. How does it feel?

Every artiste desires his work to reach out to as many people as possible and I’m glad that this film has reached out to 190 countries. Interestingly, before this movie happened, I was more or less, had no work. But I chose not to work for three years because I was busy preparing for Battle of Saragarhi, which, which never happened. So, I had grown a beard to my navel and my hair up to my small back. When Extraction released, I was just wondering, when the whole world was working, and out there, I was out of the whole thing. And now when everybody’s sitting at home and nobody’s working, my work is out there. So that’s what life is. I’m very grateful and fortunate to have landed this spot.

Before the lockdown, what else you were busy with in terms of work? Are there more films in the pipeline that have gone on hold because of the lockdown?

I was shooting a film, a Bollywood comedy with Ileana D’Cruz tentatively called Unfair and Lovely. We were almost through with that and had about 10 days to go. So that was a bit of a setback, I wish I’d finished that so I could then prepare for my one but since that is not finished, part of me stuck over there because to return to it after so many months and try and pick it up from there is always a bit of a bi*ch. Then I did another movie tentatively called Rat on the Highway, which is an out there kind of a subject. That I finished and there’s another movie called Mard, which was going to go into production but still it’s on a standby right by.

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