Latest / South Asian Trailblazers / Actor Ankur Rathee: From Princeton to Bollywood and Hollywood, the Road to Best of the Best

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Actor Ankur Rathee: From Princeton to Bollywood and Hollywood, the Road to Best of the Best · South Asian Trailblazers

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Hot take about how Hollywood or Bollywood makes movies.
• 0:03
  Speaker 2: America is so much more egalitarian, and India is a lot more social hierarchy, and it leads to some very inflated egos.
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: This is the first time we're gonna see like an Indian heartthrob.
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: And what did it mean to you to play that sort of role?
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: We haven't seen a leading man hero.
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: The way we in Bollywood were like, hi Hiroi! I only saw Salvation on camera when they were nerdy, poor, or exotic.
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: And so I hope for so many other kids they see this film and be like, I can be cool too.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: What do you think it's gonna take to get more films like these made?
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: A film like this have becoming a huge commercial box office hit.
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: Because I guarantee you there are tons of other scripts that execs are sitting on and just like, yeah, but who's gonna watch a bunch of brown people?
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: Does this film feel like an I made it moment for you?
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: My bar for made it is so high.
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: Can you share what that definition of success is?
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: International movie star that spans multiple continents, not just for my own ego gratification.
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: A lot of actors run away from fame.
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: Fame is a currency that a lot of us actors can use to tell stories that matter to us.
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: I'm Simi Shah and welcome back to South Asian Trailblazers.
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: Today I am welcoming an actor who has had one of the most unconventional paths into this business, Ankur Rathee.
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: Ankur grew up in the United States, went to Princeton, but also studied and spent time in India and went on to build a career in Bollywood first.
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: His credits include Four More Shots, Made in Heaven, Papa's single Papa.
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: And before that, in 2013, he was a finalist on Dance India Dance, which is a key piece of history because in this conversation, we're talking about his leading role in the film Best of the Best.
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: He plays a character named Ronak, and this film is all about the Indian dance circuit, which Uncle knows a lot about as someone who grew up primarily as a dancer and creative.
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: We talk about what it's like to work across two of the biggest film industries in the world and what he dreams for his career next.
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: Joining me now is Uncle Rocky.
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: Thank you.
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: Thank you so much.
• 2:20
  Speaker: How are you feeling?
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: I feel thrilled.
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: I feel like yesterday we had the premiere.
• 2:26
  Speaker: Yeah.
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: Um, I'd seen the film a few different times, screeners and this and that before, but that was the first time with such a huge audience.
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: And to hear them responding with like, ooh, or like, awww, or like, ah, like all of those kinds of reactions, it's like it's such a payoff as an actor who's been working on something for so long to know that uh people are responding to the material and the choices that you've made as an actor too.
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: Absolutely.
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: I was talking to Hassan, Lena, and Prashant about the same thing of this was my first time in a theater watching a movie with people on a premiere night in a long time where everyone is reacting to some of the same things, and that felt really special.
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: And I feel like one of the particular moments was when you sort of make your entrance at the Sasa mixer, and I was like, I it was just such a collectivism feeling, which I really appreciated.
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: I actually really want to start at the beginning of your journey and how you found your way to acting.
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: You have such an interesting background with respect to being born in India, growing up in California, making your way to Princeton.
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: What inspired you to fall in love with this craft in the first place?
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: You know, I I I just grew up watching a lot of Bollywood films as a kid.
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: And I think when you're that young, it's not really a conscious thought.
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: Like I saw it, I was enamored by it, and I would like reenact the dance numbers and reenact the fight sequences, playing the good guy and the bad guy, throwing the punch and taking the punch.
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: And I think I just always imagined myself doing that.
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: And it wasn't until I was older that I understood that, oh, that's a profession and that's an entire craft and an art form that you have to master.
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: And my first kind of introduction was through dance.
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: I used to dance a ton as a kid, and um started performing at like cultural festivals like Diwali and whatnot.
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: And eventually that made me fall in love with dance in general, got into contemporary and hip-hop, and then Princeton happened, and I was like, okay, bas bhotogogy, now it's time to focus on studies and get a job.
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: Like, you know, before I was telling my parents, like, oh, I'm doing all this dance stuff for extracurriculars to get into a good college.
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: You know, and then when I got into college, I was like, okay, now I'm gonna stop.
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: But like I just couldn't help myself.
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: I just got pulled in.
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: I ended up doing two dance companies, two a cappella groups, musical theater.
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: It just became a part of who I am.
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: And uh then dance led to musical theater, musical theater led to acting, and then eventually just purely acting, and I fell in love with that.
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: As you reflect on that time in high school and then in college, continuing to pursue musical theater and dance and the arts broadly, to best of the best, feel like this full circle moment where you were almost acting out a college version of yourself.
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah.
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: I I I'd like to think I wasn't as um as naive and maybe obsessed as Ronuk was, but definitely, you know, I think what's really interesting is uh Ronuk is like a 22-year-old who's probably not had many people say no to him.
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: And he's like floating on that confidence that's not really grounded in experience, but just, you know, he just feels like, ah, I walk on water, like I can do this, I can do that, I can lead a team and I can dance.
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: And and I think when I was that young, there was a level of that naivete as well, where I just was like, the world is my oyster.
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: And I felt like, oh, I can go out there and achieve anything.
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: I think which should be what any college student should feel, you know, at that age.
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: So that that really resonated with me about him and and that time when I was in college.
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: It feels like you've taken that spirit of the world is my oyster into your career, like making the decision to move to India, pursue a career in Bollywood, and now traversing back to Hollywood.
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: Do you still feel that sense of naivety in the world is my oyster?
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: Do you feel like the industry has sort of making you take a step back and have this reality check at point?
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: I have to fight to the nail to preserve that optimism.
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: Um, this industry is not for the the weak hearted, you know.
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: You you face a lot of rejections.
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: Um and even if you don't, just a lot of ups and downs.
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: Uh it's a very comparative industry.
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: So, you know, you're only as good as your last hit, you know.
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: And um I think that over time there have been chapters where I was a little jaded by experiences, by particular people that I'd worked with.
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: But fortunately, you know, you you you every every now and again when you're about to lose hope, you get a project like this, and you're working with people like Hassan and Prashant and Lena, who are just beacons of joy and light and positivity.
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: The whole energy around this film was so collaborative that you're like, oh yeah, this is this is of course why I did this, you know, this is showbiz, this is why I got into this.
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: What was your experience like working with them?
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: What are some things that you feel like you were able to learn from giants like Hassan, as well as other breakout stars like May 3 and others that you got to act alongside?
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: Um, I think that what was really awesome was just how much humility with which all the creative heads approached this film.
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: And what I mean by that is when someone like Bashant and Hassan have been working on this script for upwards of five years, I mean they know their shit.
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: Like they're like, this is the film that we want to make.
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: But when you come on set and you're inviting all these other people to collaborate with you, particularly actors that are gonna bring these characters to life, having a little bit of open-mindedness to allow them to participate in the creative process goes a huge way.
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: For sure.
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: And like seeing that level of humility, not just with them, but uh because they set the tone, but across all the department heads was phenomenal.
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: Because it felt like we were doing a really high production, high-budget Netflix original feature film, but with the energy and the joy and the experimental kind of approach of a student film where everyone was like, Oh God, we've never done anything like this before.
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: You know, like the art design, the set design, the costume, everyone was like, This is such a cool opportunity for us to try something we never tried before.
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: Because, you know, how often in Hollywood do we make films like this that are showcasing uh South Asian culture, music, fashion, you know, dance?
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: So uh it was very, very fun to work with people that were so passionate.
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: I imagine that with your experience in four more shots made in heaven in Indian cinema broadly, some of it felt a little bit familiar though.
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: Do you feel like you were able to bring elements of that experience to Best of the Best?
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, it's funny because I've, you know, so much of the Bollywood or South Asian dance circuit is emulating what happens in Bollywood.
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: And I've been working here for 10 years.
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: So it was, it's kind of interesting to come here and do a bit of that, but from a very different lens.
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: I think that there were many moments like the dream sequence between me and uh Brianka Kerya's uh character, where she's just seen my entrance and then she looks at me and she's like, Oh, I gotta be with him.
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: And then they they pan over to Maitri and she's like, I want to be him, right?
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: And she replaces my iconic, which is such a great like, you know, cinema tool that they used.
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: But during the whole fantasy choreography that me and Priyanka had, you know, I walk out and I put my hand out and I give this expression and all that other stuff.
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: And Lena, you know, was trying to communicate to me what she was looking for.
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: And basically she wanted that, oh, that Bollywood hero type essence, or that look in this moment, or that expression, or that microexpression.
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: And I just, you know, for me it's second nature because I do that.
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: That's my bread and butter over there, you know?
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: And so I think those were moments where that experience really came in handy.
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: And Lena was like, yes, that, that, I don't know what that is, do that, you know?
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: And it made me feel very um validated in in many ways to know that, like you said earlier, I am Indian American and I have worked in both industries, and to see all of that culminate in this project was honestly such a blessing, such a boon.
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: I couldn't have asked for a better role.
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I love that.
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: Do you mind sharing some of the comparisons and contrasts between working back home in India and back here?
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: What are the some of the things that you feel like are shared no matter where you're working, and what are the core differences you've found?
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: You know, I think one thing is across the board, filmmaking as a creative collaborative process is just an essential, no matter where you are in the world.
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: So that that very much exists.
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: And on some of the best sets I've been on there, like with working with Zoya, for example, she's very open-minded, very humble, very willing to s to let the best idea in the room win, which is great.
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: The thing that's different about these two uh industries is very much what's different about the two uh cultures, which is America is so much more egalitarian in its approach, um, and India is a lot more social hierarchy and wealth disparity, right?
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: And what that leads to is very different experiences that people come to on a set.
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: It also means labor is very cheap.
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: So we have probably like three times as many people, right?
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: For the number of people we have on a set here.
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: It's probably three three for one.
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: And I think that you'll find that Bollywood actors are kind of treated like almost cultural deities, along with cricketers in India.
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: And so there is this like reverence, you know.
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: That's why they like run for office.
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: That's why they run for office, exactly.
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: It's a little less common here, a lot less common here, and that kind of trickles down onto how you're treated on set, and it leads to some very inflated egos at times, but also some really incredible stars who know how to use that attention and that fame to do uh wonderful things for society and and to make someone's day.
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: They're just very to me, at some times it feels like a very different side of the same coin, and other times it feels like, oh, this is no different.
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: Absolutely.
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: Do you imagine that going forward in your career you'll continue to want to straddle both worlds?
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: Oh, yeah.
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: I think international movie star is like where the goal is.
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: You know, my wife Anuja and I, we talk about it all the time, for both of us.
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: She's also worked there and here.
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: I think that we're so we've got so much in us that's so this y, and there's so much in us that's so American.
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: And to be able to kind of like chameleon our way through both industries is such a blessing that our parents afforded us.
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: We're adept with both languages.
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: It makes it makes it a really, really awesome opportunity to get to do that.
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: And and to join the the ranks of the wonderful people like Brianka Chopra who've paved the way before us.
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely.
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: We we actually had her on the podcast earlier this year.
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: And what I think is so beautiful about what you're articulating is as much as going into the creative work and being an artist or an actor in our community is considered breaking the mold.
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: We are also only one of the only communities that have access to those worlds in such a big way, whether you are from the West or the East.
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: And I think you've articulated that beautifully.
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: Your wife Anuja is also amazing.
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: I loved her in The Resident.
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: I'm curious.
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: I mean, it feels like the arts are somewhat of a family business for you.
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: I know your sister is also involved as an actress.
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: Your wife is.
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: What is being at home in a family full of actors feel like?
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: You know, when I started off, I was the only actor in the family.
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: You know, I my family comes from a very rural background.
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: You know, in Haryana, you know, farmers for us as my grandfather and before all farmers, farmers, farmers.
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: So the idea of even entering entertainment was just an absurdity.
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: You know, I never even dared utter that as a possibility for my future until way later in life.
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: Uh so I was the first one to jump in, and then my sister, you know, joined the cause of the cause.
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: You know, and Anuja's family is completely different.
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: You know, she comes from, she's a fourth generation artist.
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: Her great-grandmother had a theater troupe in Maharashtra.
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: Her grandmother, you know, taught like a bunch of different playback singers that are still singing today.
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: Um, and then her aunt was a film actress, her father was a child actor, did over a hundred films, films like Sholey and Divar.
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: Wow.
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: Yeah, huge, huge iconic films.
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: And truly.
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: Her aunt's uh award-winning, uh national award-winning actress, but Lovy Joshi.
• 14:40
  Speaker 2: So for her, she grew up around it.
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: For her, it's like, oh yeah, like I can do this.
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: Like, obviously, like, you know, Taoji is doing this, Buaji is doing this, so-and-so is doing this.
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: It makes sense.
• 14:51
  Speaker 2: For me, it was a little bit more of like a leap of faith of like, I really hope this works out.
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: Um, and when these two cultures came together, um, it was it was amazing because I suddenly got to experience the wealth of cinematic knowledge and experience that her family has.
• 15:08
  Speaker: Yeah.
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: And found so many mentors in her family in that way.
• 15:11
  Speaker: It's so beautiful.
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: And I think she probably got to see my Haryanavi family and be like, man, these guys got grit.
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: Like, these guys are hustlers, they hustle for everything.
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: And so it's been a great, uh, a great combination.
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: But it is very fun now because my sister-in-law is also an actress, and and uh my my sister's partner is also an actor.
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: It's just like I would love to sit around your dinner table.
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: It gets crazy.
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: It gets crazy for sure.
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: I'm curious.
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: I mean, you are now gonna serve as that role model for so many young South Asians who want to break into career paths like this in playing a role like Ronuk.
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: You know, we were talking when I was speaking with Lena earlier.
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: She was like, this is the first time we're gonna see like an Indian heartthrob in this sort of character.
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: What did it mean to you to play that sort of role?
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: What do you hope that people take away from you and Ronuk in this film?
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: I mean, honestly, I really hope that this film opens the door to a lot more scripts like it.
• 16:04
  Speaker 2: You know, this is, I can't remember the last time there was a Hollywood film with just like all brown faces.
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: Like, just, you know, right off that, like that's I think such an accomplishment.
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: But with Ronuk specifically, I think, I think, yeah, we haven't seen a leading man type of energy on camera like that.
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: Like hero, you know, like a classic, like the way we in Bollywood were like, ha heroe.
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: You know, like I haven't seen that in Hollywood yet for a South Asian League.
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: Like, oh, that's that he's a hero, a film hero.
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: And so I hope, like, for so many other kids like myself growing up, they see this film, they see this character and be like, oh yeah, like I can be cool too.
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: Like, I can be an actor, I can be a dancer, I can be a popular kid.
• 16:51
  Speaker 2: Like, I grew up and I only saw South Asians on camera when they were nerdy or poor or exotic.
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: But everyone in this film is positioned as such a cool person, you know, and like not changing who they are to be cool.
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: You know, even like the nerds in this film or the fobs in this film, they have this coolness factor in the way they're styled, the way they're dancing, the way they're talking, the jokes.
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: It's such a celebration of our culture and all the different archetypes we all have grown up with, you know.
• 17:22
  Speaker 2: So I I really hope that people see this and and see themselves in it.
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: What do you think it's gonna take to get more films like these made?
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: Uh a film like this have becoming a huge commercial box office hit.
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: Because I guarantee you there are tons of other scripts uh in in this vein or with South Asian-centric films that are in the pipeline that execs are sitting on and just like, yeah, but who's gonna watch a bunch of brown people?
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: You know what I mean?
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: Like that's it's just reality, you know?
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: And if this film does well, then someone is gonna be like, hey, this film did well, and they're like, Do we do we have any South Asian-centric films?
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: Looks like that's hot right now.
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: And then eventually those will get greenlit, hopefully those do well, and suddenly we kind of break that stereotype or that barrier, and people are gonna be like, Hey, this is this this is a really rich culture, and it's not just for South Asian viewership, but it's it's applicable and and entertaining for all uh uh all different cultures.
• 18:18
  Speaker: Absolutely.
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: And Bollywood is a great example of that.
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: We're the potentially first or second largest film industry, you know, uh at least on par with Hollywood.
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: We're not just viewed in India.
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: Bollywood is seen, and all eight film industries, major film industries in India, are not just seen in India, but Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, um, Saudi Arabia, like the all of the Middle East, parts of East Africa, West Africa, like China.
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: Like these are not our culture, you know, but it still resonates with them.
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: So I'm really hoping that um a lot of these execs in Hollywood understand that, of course, our American white audiences will also resonate with it if the rest of the world is as well.
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: Absolutely.
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: I think about how often when I travel and have traveled even like to the Middle East or Africa, people will see in me and my family and just start yelling Shar Khan.
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: And they know it'll elicit a reaction because like to them, that is such a he is the global superstar.
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: And so I think you're 100% right that it's just can the rest of the world catch up to this?
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: What did you learn from playing Ronak?
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: And what of yourself did you try to infuse in the character?
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: Ronak is a very ambitious person.
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: Um and in his pursuit of winning best of the best, he really fumbles his love life.
• 19:37
  Speaker 2: Um, you know?
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: And I think I've been guilty of that in the past.
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: And, you know, my wife and I were both very ambitious uh actors.
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: Uh, we want to build this incredible power couple and have this incredible uh repertoire of work uh individually and collectively.
• 19:56
  Speaker 2: We want to be something more.
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: But of course, that that means also nourishing the relationship and taking time away and being very mindful of oh, we should maybe say no to this job because it's gonna be seven, eight months apart.
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: You know, for the longest time, it was always very clear work first, work first, work first.
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: And now we're finally entering a place where like, look, the work will come.
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: But if our foundation here in our relationship is not strong, um, it's gonna have a ripple effect in everything else that we do.
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: So I I think that's one thing that as I was engaging in preparing for Veronica, I was like, man, this guy is fumbling the way I did in my early years.
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: Wow.
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: That's a that's a really thoughtful thing.
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: And I I read about how you drove across the country in the pandemic to propose to your wife.
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: Is that right?
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you did your research.
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: I didn't think it it it shows though that this is something that you care a lot about and want to pour into as you guys build your careers together.
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: I mean, I um I wouldn't be here without her.
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: I I really mean that genuinely, because she she knew me when I was just a moron as an idiot.
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: And like, and like, you know, maybe I'm being self-deprecating, but like not like self-deprecation aside, like I was a bad actor when she met me.
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: Like, I have those like first few auditions, and like I'll show you, like, not on camera one day.
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: But like, I was terrible, and she still saw something in me.
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: She's like, No, you um, you're a star, and you're you're gonna step into that, and I of course saw that in her as well.
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: But there have been so many lows in in my career where maybe from the outside it didn't seem like a low, but as an actor, you're just like, oh my god, that's it, I'm done.
• 21:35
  Speaker 2: No one's gonna hire me again, or I'm irrelevant, or like I'm old news.
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: And it's in those moments where you're doing an audition and you are doing the lines over and over again, and you finish and you're like, Wow, I like 10 years in, I suck at my job, and you feel that insecurity, and you feel really you feel really low that your partner comes in and just holds you and be like, No.
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: You got this.
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: Trust me, you got this.
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: And like that, that means the world for me.
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: It keeps me going.
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: So beautiful.
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: Does this film feel like an I made it moment for you?
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: I think this film feels like a major milestone for sure.
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: Um, I made it.
• 22:15
  Speaker 2: My bar for made it is so high.
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: Can you share what that definition of success is, at least right now in this moment?
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: You know, like I said, I think international movie star.
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: You know, like I think I want to have the kind of cultural footprint that spans multiple continents.
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: Um I want to, not just for my own ego gratification, but also because it gives me the liberty to tell some incredible stories and embody some really meaningful characters.
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: I think like a lot of actors like run away from fame and they're like, oh no, like I'm all about the art.
• 22:48
  Speaker 2: And like, you know, more power to them.
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: But for me, I feel like fame is a currency that a lot of us actors can use to tell stories that matter to us.
• 22:57
  Speaker 2: So I think that's where I would love to see my career go.
• 23:00
  Speaker 2: I think I'll have made it when I'm not just starring in my own film, but uh I'm also producing it.
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I love that.
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: So beautiful.
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: Um, I want to end on a rapid fire, but the last thing I want to quickly ask you is what advice do you have for the Ronuk that's out there on a college campus debating that corporate career versus pursuing some sort of creative art?
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: I think that my my go-to advice for someone like that is are you sure you love it?
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: The craft, the art, or are you just um are you just infatuated with the attention?
• 23:38
  Speaker 2: Are you just really enjoying the ego stroking and the applause?
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: Because that there's no guarantee you're gonna have that.
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: But if you really love the art and you're performing even for a small room, you're still gonna find joy and purpose in your life.
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: And so with anyone I say, if there's anything else that you can do that's gonna bring you joy, do that.
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: Like the certainty of that paycheck and of that career path, and you and you happen to love what you do, great, do that.
• 24:05
  Speaker 2: Because this path is not it's not an easy one.
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: And I'm I'm so grateful that I chose it, but I've seen so many of my friends and colleagues get into it for the wrong reasons, and it will just thrash you about and and and like spit you out, you know?
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: Because you just you didn't fall in love with the craft.
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you have to know your why to persist through the hard moments.
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: Thank you for sharing that.
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: Um I wanna I don't have fun rapid fire.
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: Are you ready?
• 24:31
  Speaker 2: Oh god, I'm so bad at rapid fires.
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: It's okay, no one's particularly great at it.
• 24:37
  Speaker 2: Sam Khan is very good at rapid fire.
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: Anyone who sat down with Garvin Johar is good at it.
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: Favorite scene from the movie?
• 24:44
  Speaker 2: Uh when I kick Maya off the team.
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: Oh wow.
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I was like, I thought that I was doing way too much.
• 24:50
  Speaker 2: You have to realize I'm coming from Bollywood, and sometimes in Bollywood, like I like lean against some of the melodrama of it.
• 24:56
  Speaker 2: And in this one, I was doing the same, and then Prashant and Lena were like, no, we need more.
• 25:00
  Speaker 2: I was like, more than that?
• 25:01
  Speaker 2: They're like, yes, we need you to be very, very angry.
• 25:05
  Speaker 2: I was like, okay.
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: It was very intense.
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: I love that.
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: Go-to Taco Bell Order.
• 25:11
  Speaker 2: Crunch Wrap Supreme, uh, Vegetarian, no beef.
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: A rising South Asian troll laser you're watching.
• 25:19
  Speaker 2: Ishan Katar.
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: Ah, love Ishan.
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: Uh, one thing you hope people take away from this movie.
• 25:25
  Speaker 2: I hope that they watch this movie like it's like the first bite of Indian food they had, where you're like, oh my god, what a combustion of flavors.
• 25:33
  Speaker 2: This is so fun.
• 25:34
  Speaker 2: Give me the menu.
• 25:35
  Speaker 2: I want to order everything else on the menu.
• 25:37
  Speaker 2: I hope they watch this film and like, what is this music?
• 25:39
  Speaker 2: Where do I find more of it on Spotify?
• 25:41
  Speaker 2: What is this dance?
• 25:42
  Speaker 2: I want to take a dance class.
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: What is this style?
• 25:45
  Speaker 2: Like, this is so cool.
• 25:46
  Speaker 2: How can I incorporate this into my wardrobe?
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: I hope this is an introduction for a lot of audiences to the large and beautiful, rich um culture of ours.
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: I love this.
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: Hot take about how Hollywood or Bollywood makes movies.
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: Uh Bollywood is oftentimes Jugard.
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 26:06
  Speaker 2: Okay, which is like for those who don't know what that means, like, you know, we make things happen on the fly, a very makeshift uh MacGyver, I think is the term that's used here.
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: And that's not to say that the quality is any less, but you know, we're flying by the seat of our pants, and there's something really fun about that.
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: And here, the word I would use is red tape.
• 26:24
  Speaker 2: There's so much red tape for everything.
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: There's permits for this, there's unions for that.
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: And honestly, I am so grateful for it.
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: Um, I I am getting to reap the the rewards of that and the benefits of that through this filming process, and I see the merit of both sides.
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: And how you would want your legacy as a trailblazer to be defined in a sentence or a word.
• 26:47
  Speaker 2: Oh man, I feel like anything I say is gonna sound either arrogant or stupid.
• 26:51
  Speaker 2: No.
• 26:52
  Speaker 2: Um spiritual warrior.
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: Oh, I love that.
• 26:56
  Speaker 2: Yeah, my spiritual practice is very close to me.
• 26:58
  Speaker 2: My guru Paramansa Yogananda.
• 26:59
  Speaker 2: I if it wasn't for him, I don't think I would have lasted as long as I have.
• 27:04
  Speaker 2: And I hope to be able to talk about that uh a little bit more and share that journey with others more.
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I was reading about how meditation is a big practice of yours in this regard.
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: Very special.
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: What's next for you?
• 27:15
  Speaker 2: Um, I've got uh the next season of Single Papa, um, also a Netflix property, uh, that's gonna be shooting very soon, so I'll be going back for that.
• 27:24
  Speaker 2: And there's two other films in India and one film here that is in talks with I can't unfortunately tell more than that, but uh I'm I'm really excited uh for all three of them.
• 27:37
  Speaker 2: I think there's just gonna be a lot of fun stuff that audiences are gonna get to see me in.
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: Amazing.
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: Well, congratulations, Uncor, and thank you so much for taking the time to share your story.
• 27:45
  Speaker 2: Thank you so much.
• 27:45
  Speaker 2: Thank you, Sindley.
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much for tuning in today.
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: I hope you'll join our community at SouthAsianTrailblazers.com.
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter and follow us at South Asian Trailblazers on LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and any major platform.
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: Here at South Asian Trailblazers, we're dedicated to elevating leading South Asians.
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: Until next time.