Rishi Khurana, who has been around for many years, is now essaying the character of an unscrupulous opportunistic advocate in the popular Star Bharat show, Nimmki Mukhiya (Qissago Telefilms).
Says the actor, “Rituraj is a political fixer and also a womanizer, though he has a loving wife back home. What really appealed to me about him was that he is very grey and layered; there is much more to him. Normally, TV characters are only black and white. But here, you can’t really second guess what he will end up doing next. I give full credit to my writer and producer Zamaji for giving me very powerful dialogues, which really add meat to Rituraj’s persona. Just how good the character graph is can be guessed from the fact that politicians call, asking how to go about their stuff.”
“I agreed to do this character for my dear departed father, who was also an officer of the court, so knew intricacies of the justice department,” adds Rishi.
But don’t you feel that the black coat community is looked down upon? “Sadly, yes, for until a while back, LLB was the easiest degree to earn compared to medical or engineering. Recently, I went to a court for some official work, where lawyers first demanded 200 bucks, and eventually came down to a mere Rs 30. You are forced to do all this as there are too many lawyers around. Akshay Kumar’s super-hit film, Jolly LLB 2, brings out the true face of the lawyer frat. The scene when he says ‘we (lawyers) have no shame,’ was a really telling comment.”
Rishi, who has been noticed for his performance in Chhoti Bahu and Saas Bina Sasural amongst others, has no qualms about playing character roles. “It is a better deal, for fresher lead actors are not only overworked but also underpaid. We supporting actors are taken to raise the value of the product, and also handle stuff if the leads falter.”
Do you think character artists get their respect? “You have to demand the same; if you just sit quietly, you will be taken for granted. Had Amitabh Bachchan been a regular TV actor, even he would not have been given a separate room, until asked. This problem happens, for the younger production and channel guys don’t watch TV, so have no clue who is senior and who isn’t. However, the above approach is also dicey; sometimes you over play and end up getting embarrassed, like, unfortunately, I have also faced.”
Continue your good work, Rishi!!