Nobody has offered me villainous roles on TV: Ronit Roy

By Kishori Sud

New Delhi, Jan 20 (IANS) His last few film appearances have seen him play mostly characters with negative or grey shades, as opposed to his body of work on the small screen. Actor Ronit Roy says nobody has offered him a villainous role on TV in recent times.

If on the small screen, Ronit has often been portrayed as a heart-warming family man, he has played roles with an evil streak in critically acclaimed films like "Udaan", "Ugly" and "Guddu Rangeela".

On the big screen, Ronit will once again be seen in a negative role in the forthcoming Hrithik Roshan starrer "Kaabil", with his younger brother Rohit.

Ronit says that it's not that he is disinterested in doing a negative role in TV shows.

"Nobody has offered me a role of a villain on TV. I can do a negative role on mediums depending on the concept. It depends upon a lot of things -- what kind of negative character it is, what is the character doing, why is he doing so, his ideology... Whether I do a negative character or a positive character, the ideology needs to be justified," Ronit told IANS over phone from Mumbai.

Talking about the difference in roles he has essayed on TV and films, Ronit says that since 2010, he has worked in more films than the number of TV shows he has worked in, in over 15 years of his career.

"The makers are different, the way a director looks at a character is different. In every film, you are essaying a different character. It's like two-hour films in comparison to shows that run for two years or four years where an actor is doing the same character," the 51-year-old said.

Before his TV career took off in a big way, Ronit had featured in bit roles in a variety of movies. But after he worked his way to be often touted as the 'Amitabh Bachchan of Indian television', the doors for Bollywood opened for him once again.

Ronit, who has worked in TV entertainers like "Kasautii Zindagi Kay", "Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi", "Kasamh Se", "Bandini", "Adaalat" and "Itna Karo Na Mujhe Pyaar", says the two mediums should not be compared.

"Even in a TV show, there are different kinds of scenes, twists and turns. There is scope for adapting or changing the performance and to try different things. It is not that one is good or one is bad -- they are just separate mediums.

"I have always said that the two mediums are so different from each other that a comparison should not be made between them," said the actor, who has also featured in movies like "Student of the Year" and "2 States".

Talking about his TV projects as a producer or a director, Ronit says that discussions are still on as all parties involved need to be on the same page for anything to start.

"There has to be a unanimous excitement so that we are able to deliver something bigger and better and newer."

(Kishori Sud can be contacted at kishori.s@ians.in)