Actor Ravi Kishan says he has become selective with his film choices after becoming a politician as he doesn't want to be part of anything "that's against the country".
Kishan, 54, who is a Lok Sabha MP for BJP from from Gorakhpur, stars as a lawyer in the Netflix series "Maamla Legal Hai". On the film front, he will be seen playing a cop in Kiran Rao's "Laapataa Ladies".
"I'm a little careful (about my choices), and I don't want to do any film that's against the country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji and CM Yogi Adityanath ji never said anything to me.
"It is like, ‘Whenever the party needs you, be there. So, I'm doing less work. Earlier, I would shoot every day. Now, I barely work 20 percent...,” Kishan told PTI in an interview.
The 54-year-old actor, best known for his role in Bhojpuri films such as "Panditji Batai Na Biyah Kab Hoyi" and "Banke Bihari MLA" as well as Hindi movies like "Hera Pheri", "Raavan", and "Mukkabaaz", said acting is very close to his heart.
"I love this black camera, it's the most beautiful thing. This camera takes me far away from people, but sometimes it takes me near to myself... I don't run or chase work, I know the camera loves me and it will call me... It (acting) is my oxygen.”
“Politics is for the service of people. I'm there to help people, save lives, and whatever I can do from my end, like giving job opportunities there (in his constituency in Gorakhpur),” he Kishan added.
Both “Laapataa Ladies” and “Maamla Legal Hai” are set to premiere on March 1 and the actor-politician said he is grateful to the makers for casting him in light-hearted roles.
In “Laapataa Ladies”, Kishan plays the role of a police officer probing the missing case of two young brides, and in “Maamla Legal Hai”, he will be seen as a lawyer at the fictional Patparganj district court.
“I've never planned my life or career but it's because of destiny that I have two releases... People always thought of me as someone holding a gun, wearing a moustache and playing a larger-than-life persona. They had not seen this (comedic) side of me much, which was seen by the makers."
Kishan also believes his stint in “Bigg Boss” helped viewers discover his comedic side as his one-liners on the show became popular.
“People started loving Ravi Kishan because of my one-liners and raw humour, and I was unaware about it... There are so many different colors and shades to all of us. I don't like to play just one kind of a role. There are so many characters that I want to play,” he added.
“Maamla Legal Hai”, a courtroom comedy, also stars Nidhi Bisht, Yashpal Sharma, Naila Grewal, and Anant V Joshi among others. It is directed by Rahul Pandey with Sameer Saxena attached as a showrunner.
Bisht, best known for “Dream Girl”, studied law before becoming an actor. She said life has come full circle for her as she got the opportunity to play a lawyer on screen.
“I only wanted to be in movies, making films, and be an actor. I was not actively pursuing it because my dad insisted on having a professional degree. After completing law and practising for a while, I told my parents that I don't want to do this...
"My dad said, ‘Okay, but be sure to play the role of a lawyer or a judge in a film'. So, in that aspect, life has come full circle that he (dad) will see me play a lawyer with this show (‘Maamla Legal Hai'),” the actor said.
Actor Naila Grewal, who will be seen as a Harvard-educated lawyer, said she was enticed by the juxtaposition of her character in the show.
“This is a girl, who drinks alkaline water and almond milk and she is fighting for the justice of a bhains (buffalo). It's bizarre but it's happening. There's a sense of realness to it. It's a beautiful blend of madly bizarre and authentically Indian,” Grewal said.
“Maamla Legal Hai” is directed by Rahul Pandey from a script by Saurabh Khanna and Kunal Aneja.
Pandey said he was really impressed with the script, which he claims is inspired by true events.
“It is very easy to take the drama out of the real incident, but we have taken the humour. There was one episode about how a parrot was produced in the court, and this is based on a true event. The humour is there, you just have to capture it,” he said.
"Maamla Legal Hai" is produced by Khanna, Amit Golani, Biswapati Sarkar, and Sameer Saxena.
