‘I can say keema bharey salaan murg ka pulao in my sleep now’

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‘I can say keema bharey salaan murg ka pulao in my sleep now’

Sunday, 21 March 2021 | Shalini Saksena

‘I can say keema bharey salaan murg ka pulao in my sleep now’

ALEXX O’NELL, who plays a documentary filmmaker in Roohi, speaks with SHALINI SAKSENA about his experience of working with Rajkummar Rao, his two singles and how he began working in Bollywood

For those who haven’t seen Roohi, what is your role?

It is my first time working in a horror-comedy. It is pretty awesome. It has been a while since I was part of a comedy film. I started off with this genre and did Joker (Akshay Kumar and Sonakshi Sinha starrer). It was a great way to start my career here. I play Tim in Roohi, a documentary filmmaker who encounters Rajkummar (Rao) and Varun’s (Sharma) characters.  What plays out forms the outcome of this movie. My character is the personification of the audience in the film.

How did you come on board for the project?

We started working on this project sometime back and I really don’t remember how things moved forward and how I came on board for this film. I was shooting for something else at that time when this project came along. I studied journalism but have never played one on-screen. What I loved about this movie was that it has a different perspective. My name got tossed around in a room and someone got in touch with me and that was it.

How was it to work with Janhvi Kapoor and Rajkummar Rao?

This is my third project with Rajkummar Rao, the first one was Chittagong. The two of us come together to work once every couple of years. In both the previous movies I want to kill him. Roohi is a pleasant change. He is a great person and not because he is a good actor. We would have a few chats in between shots. Varun (Sharma) is a wonderful person. It was great to work with this team, especially Hardik Mehta.

You released two singles as well. What are they about?

The first, released last year, was Still On My Mind. Most of my music is in English but people here still listen to them; it is amazing. The statistics show that most of the viewers were in India even though the song is in English. Just after completing working on Aarya, I released Bhagwad Gita song. The reason why I did this was because I had memorised Sanskrit shlokas for Aarya and they were dancing around in my head. I sat down with a guitar and did this song and released it. It is in Sanskrit so very specific to the audience but whoever has heard it has loved it.  My musical journey has just begun.

Have you managed to move past the image of the waiter who couldn’t pronounce the dish in Cheeni Kum?

I can recite the name in my sleep — keema bharey salaan murg ka pulao. People say that I started my career where I was unable to pronounce the dish to now reciting, from memory, shlokas in Sanskrit from The Bhagwad; it has been an interesting journey. Language is not my strong point but I work really hard on it. There is a project that I am working on, I don’t speak a word in English, only Hindi. I loved being part of Cheeni Kum and being face-to-face with the great Amitabh Bachchan. When people remind me of the movie, I smile.

What made you come to India?

I was working with a marketing company and it was opening up offices in India, South Africa and Philippines. But I was an actor on stage in the US and a model. While I was here, modeling led to my first ad and that led to my first film. Then I got super lucky and did Nach Baliye. I am a horrible dancer but it gave me the exposure countrywide and opened doors to films and series. I am grateful to the Indian audience for accepting me on-screen and also listening to my music.

You have been in the industry for over a decade now. Was there a character that you loved playing?

There are so many. In Urumi (Malayalam), I play a double role. Main Aur Charles, with Randeep Hooda was yet another film that I loved being a part of. I loved the movie as well. I even tracked down the inspector who had tracked down Charles Shobraj. I love history and wanted to know more so that I could step into the shoes of the character that I played. 

What are you working on now?

I can talk about projects that are for public knowledge. There is The Battle of Bhima Koregaon with Arjun Rampal. It is a period war drama. I play a positive role here. Golondaaj is another one, a Bengali film on football, I am excited about this film. Chehre, I have a cameo. For Bhoot_Police we are still shooting, again a cameo. There are a few others as well.

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