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Every film teaches something: Riteish
Malamaal Weekly gave me a chance to observe the greats, he says. Film preview
After picking up accolades for his comic turn in Rohan Sippy’s Bluffmaster, actor Riteish Deshmukh is now keeping his fingers crossed for Priyadarshan’s Malamaal Weekly. The film has Riteish pitted against comic experts like Om Puri, Paresh Rawal and Rajpal Yadav.
The story, which is about a small problem-stricken village winning a lottery ticket, has Sudha Chandran too playing a vamp with a comic touch. So with so many comic actors around him, was it difficult for Riteish to do his funny act?
“With Pareshji, Omji and Rajpal Yadav around me, it was easier to see and know why they are so good at what they do. I have always wondered how they get their comic timing so perfect and Malamaal Weekly gave me a chance to observe and learn from these great actors at close quarters. In any case, every film teaches you something.”
While all the characters are shown to chase money, Riteish says his character, of the innocent village boy Kanhaiya “is only interested in running after the girl. While everybody else is looking for ways to get hold of the lottery money, Kanhaiya is more interested in winning over his love.”
While shooting for the film was a cakewalk, the fact that all the actors had to be holed up in a village set in a place called Karaikudi for 40 whole days “was sheer torture,” says Riteish. “It was as if we were cut off from civilisation. That was the toughest part of working in this film.” Will he be concentrating on comic roles in his forthcoming films, considering he’s so good at it? “There are a few films in which I am funny but there is a thriller with director Anubhav Sinha that I’m looking forward to,” says the actor.
