“Savarkar is my first film as a director, writer and producer, I am being fearless about it”: Randeep Hooda

A combatant, Randeep Hooda. His intense love for his work frequently overcomes any kind of physical or psychological setback. Everyone can observe his all-in approach to work, which forbids half-hearted attempts, in such projects as ‘Sarbjit’, ‘Highway’, his portrayal of Charles Sobhraj in ‘Main Aur Charles’ or his MMA training for ‘Do Lafzon Ki Kahani’.

In addition, the actor endured knee ailments for years in a row, which caused film projects to be delayed. Randeep has persevered against all odds and is now prepared to return to ‘Swatantrya Veer Savarkar’, his most ambitious project until now.

The actor recently had an unfiltered conversation before he headed to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to resume filming the movie after undergoing significant weight loss in order to play Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.

It’s interesting to note that Randeep is now also the director and producer of the film, expanding his role beyond that of an actor. We genuinely wonder at this point is there something Randeep can’t do!

Speaking of the making of ‘Swatantrya Veer Savarkar’, “I work better in isolation, but you can do that only as an actor or a writer, not as a director. It’s like I was an individual tennis player before, and then they put me in a soccer team and made me the captain, and now I must make all the players play tennis individually! Juggling the roles of a director, writer and producer is a great lesson in people management because acting is very individualistic”.

Elaborating on taking on multiple responsibilities for the project, he shared, “Savarkar is my first film as a director, writer and producer. I am being fearless about it. I didn’t know many things about Savarkar before I started researching him. Most books have dedicated only two paragraphs to the armed revolution, which was also a part of our freedom struggle. Through extensive research, we will show in the movie what their actual contribution was. I am making this movie also to connect with today’s youth.”

It took Randeep a few months to get back in action post the injury, but he is in no mood to slow down. Looking back he says, “I was 22 kgs underweight for almost eight months while prepping for Savarkar, I weighed 68 kgs. Post the injury, I am now 71 kgs and I need to lose weight again as we restart the shoot as there must be continuity. With age, it all gets tougher for sure.”