Ashutosh's reappearence

doweshowbellyad=0; Ashutosh Rana (TOI Photo)Someone has rightly said that your last best work is your biggest competitor.
And matching upto it is a huge feat. No wonder Bollywood baddie Ashutosh Rana could never rise above the benchmark performance that he had set for himself with the the menacing Gokul Pandey in Dushman and the sinister murderer in Sangharsh making history in Hindi cinema."Media gave me a heroic publicity after Dushman and Sangharsh. I think I had set standards for myself by taking villain to a different level in movies. Unfortunately, those were my nemesis too. I couldn’t rise above them in terms of any other noteworthy performance as villains. I did many films after that, but it never registered in people’s mind," he laughs.
Ashutosh who than married actress Renuka Shahane and got busy with his family life did few more films, but they weren’t of much significance. "I haven’t done any insignificant roles," he corrects adding, "You can’t hit a sixer everyday. Also our main heroes started doing roles with grey shades. So, the whole ideaof a typical bad man was slowly phasing out. I grabbed a new wave that passed by me. I consciously expanded into good character roles like Shabnam Mausi, and I am lucky to be accepted as an actor."
The actor is excited about his movie career after a long time through probably one of his dream roles in the movie, Coffee House (Metro ki Chaupal) produced by Mahim and Asit Mittal, a film loosely inspired by the life and works of Sadar Hashmi, noted activist and theatre personality who was murdered by politicians few years ago.
Ashutosh plays the central role. Hashmi, an activist and idealist, spread his social message through his beliefs. "It’s not his life history but there are enough parallels to draw from from his life. Hashmi saab and I share a common background in terms of love for theatre. I also started doing theatre because of a certain commitment I had towards society. When I read about Hashmi saab, I saw kind of a mirror image . He was murdered. But my point is you can kill a person but not his thinking. It spreads anyway. I am glad that today i getting to do stuff that not only satisfies my social and creative urges, but also I am being paid also for it," he says.
However, Ashutosh has few other dream roles, like Chanakya, Swami Vivekanand, Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, etc. "But my favourites are Ravan and Hitler from mythology and history. I also like our Gabbar Singh and Langda Tyagi. I don’t see them as villains, I am enamoured by their charismatic leadership quality. Confidence and clarity ruled their heads. I believe there’s no villain or hero in our society. It’s the perception we create. They are the same leader with a volcano within them waiting to explode. They too love life and are driven by by their beliefs. But the only difference between them and the heroes as we call is that the latter misused their power for their own selfish interest and not for the society," he explains. .
In the last 10 years, Ashutosh has only done about 29 films but most of it has been in the public memory thanks to movies like Shabnam Mausi, Zakhm, Kalyug and the latest Dhoka are noteworthy. But don’t actors like him,who prefer good work over money, also need to survive. "Honestly for actors like me, money isn’t the priority. I live within my means, I have no big dreams. I am living my life comfortably with my wife and two sons who go to a good schools. My belief is that focus on your work, and money will automatically pour in I feel I am blessed," he says.
Coffee House will also see television’s popular star Sakshi Tanwar making her film debut with Ashutosh. Says the actor of his co-star, "She plays my wife in the film. She is very good. To have ruled the television for seven long years, you should have something in you. She’s got amazing charisma, and command over Hindi language. In short she is impressive."
All this aside Ashutosh is also set to reclaim his bad man crown in the next Pooja Bhatt film. "This is once again going to set the bars of villains," he smiles.