Randeep Hooda on his USP and ‘frothy films’: Not competing with Hrithik, Shahid

Actor Randeep Hooda talked about his film choices and how he maintained a different image than most of his peers in the film industry. The actor was speaking at India Today Mind Rocks 2024 Youth Summit in Bengaluru when he made the statement. Randeep referred to the dancing skills of Hrithik Roshan and Shahid Kapoor to mention how he has created a different league of his own where he is comfortable being a non-dancer.
The actor, who was last seen in Swatantrya Veer Savarkar, opened up on not doing films just to serve meaningless entertainment to the audience. He talked about the importance of telling stories that leave the audience with some thoughts. Randeep said, “I have always wanted to not just do frothy films. In India and everywhere, we are looking at entertainment, where we are not required to apply our minds too much. But, I’ve been fortunate enough to choose films at the sacrifice of not doing enough – out of 24 years of my experience as a professional actor, I’ve not been on the sets for 11 years. So, either I am waiting for something meaningful to come across or I am preparing for something.”
He added, “Cinema is changing, but the inherent essence of cinema remains entertainment and I think that’s how we should look at it. I have been a part of movies which are both meaningful and entertaining, but I don’t think you can preach to people through cinema. Nobody wants to listen to a lecture. Whatever you can tell them through entertainment, through comedy and fun, that’s the only thing the audience takes home.”
The actor, who is proud of being rooted in his Haryanvi culture, went on to highlight the significance of finding one’s own calling. When asked to do a little dance on the stage, he refused and said, “This is the reason why I prefer to do transformational acting, or method acting, where you are preparing yourself to know the truth of a character. For example, I have played many cop roles, but I have not played a cardboard cop wearing a uniform. They are human beings who happen to be cops. That’s where you create a difference. And because I was not good at dancing, I chose to be good at this. So, why compete with Hrithik, Shahid and Tiger because they dance so well? They can’t do what I do. Find your USP.”

Randeep elaborated on his idea of choosing films. He said he believes in working less but investing energy in good stories. The actor explained, “There’s only one structure that one can follow in Bollywood. After spending a few years in Bollywood, I realised that I wanted to do more than just play myself in every film. I did not find that interesting at all. I was kind of bored with myself. I like to choose characters where I can get to the truth of the character. It need not be defined or be rather popular range of a hero. A hero is someone who follows himself and finds his own calling, makes his own path and is courageous enough to face failures and keep learning.”
Randeep also spoke about censorship and how his belief in changing ideologies took him wherever he is in life today.