In a candid chat with Lehren Retro, Ronit Roy unveils his journey from 'gutter' to stardom, crediting Ekta Kapoor's instrumental role. Emphasizing her significant impact, he highlights how she shaped his career and turned him into a star.
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00:00 When Ekta called you, were you surprised?
00:02 Ekta didn't call me.
00:03 I didn't meet.
00:04 I started working for Balaji in 2000 and we only heard of Ekta.
00:12 She was Ekta Kapoor, right?
00:14 She's still Ekta Kapoor.
00:16 So there was no meeting her.
00:18 So you are hired by, I mean, of course she's okayed you, you know, because without her
00:23 okay, there's not even a feather would move that time.
00:28 So you know that she's okayed you, but you can't meet her.
00:33 So I think 2000, I started working erratically for Balaji.
00:40 They were doing a show on Zee, where I was doing a character role.
00:48 Then 2000, and it got canned.
00:52 2001, that show came back on Zee.
00:55 Then they called me back.
00:57 Then we started shooting full-fledged for that.
01:01 And in 2002, so that was after one year of working with Balaji, 2002, July, beginning
01:11 of July, they said there's this role, Nivedita Basu.
01:19 She said there's this role, Ekta's told you to do it.
01:25 So it's just there.
01:26 Ekta has told you to do it.
01:27 It's over.
01:28 I said yeah, of course.
01:29 They said but it's just like a two, three month role.
01:33 But you have to do it.
01:34 And you have to color your hair white.
01:36 I said, really?
01:37 Give me work and I'll do it.
01:40 So…
01:41 And by then, you had come to your senses?
01:45 Yes, by that time, by that time, I was like, that was what I did on television at that
01:52 time, in those 10 years.
01:54 I don't think any actor can do.
01:56 Yeah, maybe there are a couple of actors.
01:59 You two were doing that crazy double shifts which went on to 25 hour shifts.
02:02 Yeah, I would go home.
02:04 So I started, let's say technically in 2000, but non-technically, main work started in
02:11 2001.
02:12 2002, Bajaj started.
02:13 So I had two shows with Balaji then.
02:16 In July, my entry was in July.
02:19 On October, on the 11th, was my entry into Kyuki.
02:24 From then on, on my birthday, from then on, for the next 10 years, I have done three shows.
02:31 I mean, if you look at my filmography, I have done three shows every year for Balaji.
02:40 So it was the Zee Show and let's just say Kasautii and Kyuki were running parallel.
02:48 Then I did Kehna Hai Kuch Mujhko, Kasam Se, Kayamat, Bandili and maybe two, three other
02:57 shows which I don't remember.
02:59 But every year she would give me another show and I salute Ekta that I got into that zone
03:07 saying do or die.
03:10 And she would not even give me, forget about one day to sit at home, she would not give
03:15 me four hours to go home.
03:17 And I'm very happy for that.
03:19 You know, that just snaps you out and says, and then of course I used to be the guard,
03:26 the gatekeeper who would be sent everywhere, look at that actor, he's fussing, go explain
03:31 to him.
03:32 So I would do all the rounds of Sankram and talking to all the troublesome actors who
03:37 would, who were in the situation where I was.
03:40 Where you were?
03:41 I have arrived.
03:47 So, yeah, it's a fleeting thing.
03:49 Right.
03:50 And you can, you are here today, but tomorrow you'll have to find yourself all over again.
03:54 So don't do that.
03:55 Shanti Rakho, Ekar Ke Jao.
03:56 So you, who had been in that phase for nine years, you now became the advisor who could
04:04 tell others.
04:05 So Jeetu ji was there, Jeetu ji would call me and say, "Jara baat karna usse, pooch
04:10 kya problem ho hai?
04:11 Ki find out what it is and let's solve it."
04:14 And then most of it would get solved.
04:16 There were one or two instances, of course, where they were like, nahi.
04:22 And all those actors are, I don't know where they are today.
04:25 We don't see them anymore.
04:26 So just that respect.
04:27 So when once a Balaji happened to you, whether it was the Zee Show or K and K, did you completely
04:36 change who you were as an actor?
04:38 Your discipline, your sense of discipline, your drinking, your, is it your punctuality
04:43 which is always there?
04:45 But…
04:46 So I'll tell you a story.
04:49 Yes.
04:50 We were talking about meeting Ekta.
04:54 So in 2002 Diwali, we were invited to Ekta's party.
04:59 Like, yes!
05:00 We have got an invite to go to Ekta ji's party.
05:04 So, and I had met Neelam by that time.
05:08 Okay.
05:09 I met Neelam in 2000.
05:11 So, that's, see again, life, I said, life happens to you.
05:14 So, Neelam coming into my life, Ekta coming into my life, Balaji telefilms, that discipline,
05:20 that thing ke boss…
05:22 Samay.
05:23 Haan, samay.
05:24 It all coincided.
05:26 And of course, even then, even in 2002, Bajaj had gone through the roof already.
05:34 I was Mihir.
05:36 Even then, our access to Ekta was very limited.
05:40 Limited.
05:41 So, we couldn't like go and walk into her home, I think.
05:45 But when I went to her house, I was asking Neelam, I said, Neelam said, you know, Neelam
05:50 is a very simple lady.
05:52 I know.
05:53 She was like, I know, you know.
05:54 She's like, should we give her a cologne?
05:56 I said, you can't give Ekta Kapoor a cologne.
05:58 You should give her Ganeshji.
06:00 I said, you haven't seen the picture of her Ganeshji in her house.
06:04 I said, you can't give her a make-up.
06:06 So, I met Ekta for 20 seconds on her Diwali party.
06:13 And I told her, I don't know whether she'll remember or not, but I remember these words.
06:19 I told her, I said, ma'am, the only gift that I can give you this Diwali is my dedication as an actor.
06:27 I never ever said, I want to go home.
06:33 I said, you guys manage.
06:36 You guys tell me where to go.
06:38 I have, like other actors, not just me, I've fainted on set.
06:44 Doctor has, I've fainted three times in a span of one hour.
06:49 Doctor has been called. Neelam has come and raved there.
06:53 All has happened.
06:55 But, so, not so much Kyuki, but Kasauti was being directed by a guy called Kaid.
07:03 And he got it, he understood.
07:05 So, so it used to be 12 hours, right?
07:10 So, 7 to 7 I would go for Kyuki and 7 to 7 I would go for Kasauti.
07:16 So, this is technically no time to go home.
07:18 At that point, you know, you are, A, you have a job.
07:25 B, you have suddenly become Bajaj.
07:29 In one shot.
07:31 Mr. Bajaj.
07:33 You have become Mr. Bajaj.
07:34 You have been, you are suddenly bigger than you have ever been.
07:38 Correct. Correct.
07:40 Star TV is telling Balaji that, sorry, you have to renegotiate this man's contract.
07:45 Because we can't let him go now. This story has to go on.
07:48 So, Balaji is calling you and say, achha abhi do teen mere ka nahi, ek saal ka karna padhega.
07:52 So, all that positivity is coming to you.
07:55 And I was just happy, the fact that, arre, I am needed.
08:01 You know, that they need me to be here.
08:06 Such a high, na?
08:07 It's a high. It's an amazing feeling.
08:09 And Mihir Virani also.
08:11 To be needed is a, yeah.
08:13 And Mihir, I was like, damn, nobody is working as Mihir.
08:18 I was about to flop.
08:19 People are going to, one Bajaj hit and one Mihir, people are not going to accept me.
08:23 Because Mihir was already such a big thing.
08:26 Yeah. And suddenly Mihir also went through the roof that, you know, the chemistry with Smriti.
08:32 That worked, my chemistry with Shweta worked.
08:36 So, yeah, just two words, yeah, grateful and thankful.
08:39 Your chemistry with women works anyway, Raman.
08:41 Okay, if you say so.
08:44 And how is your equation with Ekta?
08:47 Ekta is my boss, yeah.
08:49 Yeah, Ekta is my boss.
08:52 It's not just me. Neelam also knows that it is something that, you know,
08:59 she calls me right now and says, ki paanch din ka kaam kar, I have done it before, in Ram Sakshi's serial.
09:07 And then, you know, of course, the staff, they are like, sir, the check, I said, what check? No check.
09:14 She has given enough checks. No checks for this.
09:18 Even if today she tells me that, you know, come I want you to do this three day, four day job for me.
09:23 And I will proudly, happily go, yeah.
09:27 So, that equation also doesn't change. Yeah, see, so, Jeetu ji and me, we go back to 92.
09:35 Yeah. You know, we did a film in the South, where he was there, you know, lot of other, Danny Saab was there.
09:42 We did that film. So, I know him since then. The way he behaves with me, you know, it's very apparent that he loves me.
09:52 The way Shobhama behaves with me. So, you know, largely, okay, now films and all that is fine. It's a journey.
10:01 But the people to bring me out of the gutter, so to say, is Balaji's development. So, that can never go away.
10:13 Okay.