Tota Roy Choudhury plays Chandon Chatterjee, in Karan Johar’s Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani.
Tota Roy Choudhury opened up about helping Alia Bhatt and Shabana Azmi with Bangla diction during Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani making.
Tota Roy Choudhury has been garnering praises for his performance in Karan Johar’s Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani. The Bengali star played the role of Chandon Chatterjee, Rani’s (Alia Bhatt) father, in hit film. While much has been spoken about his now-viral Kathak performance on Dola Re Dola with Ranveer Singh in the movie, the actor sat down for an exclusive chat with to talk about working with Alia Bhatt. The actor revealed that Alia often asked him for help to get the Bengali dialect right during the making of the film. He also shared that Alia’s stardom doesn’t affect her in the slightest and she is an eager learner.
“Both of them (Alia Bhatt and Shabana Azmi) asked me several times over. They did have a dialect coach but they asked me and Churni, ‘Are we speaking correctly? Are we pronouncing correctly?’ Bangla is not easy if you are not used to it. Both of them were eager students. What is left for Shabana ji to achieve in her career? Alia is a superstar already. She needed to be good but she wanted to be authentic,” he told us.
Reflecting on the distinction between superstars and regular actors, he said that the hunger and relentless pursuit of improvement set them apart. Superstars, he said, strive for perfection in their craft. “The hunger, this quest to do better is what differentiates superstars and normal actors like us. They go for perfection. I learnt a lot from them every day – about commitment and excellence. Superstars presumably come with a bit of vanity but these guys, when they came on to the sets, they left it all behind. They checked their superstardom at the entrance and entered as true blue-collar workers, ready to sweat it out for the next 12 hours. You don’t reach that position if you don’t have that commitment,” he added.
Recalling how it was on sets with everyone, Tota said, “For me, the ice was broken on the very first day. They were all so friendly, so welcoming. Stars like Ranveer and Alia coming and hugging you – it was very heartening. I knew Jaya ji from before but everyone else, including Shabana ji, Dharam ji, Anjali were very warm. All of us knew that the journey was going to be very special. We would discuss it because we felt it in our bones; but that it would be accepted by everyone was beyond our expectations.”
Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani is going strong at the box office with the collection crossing Rs 100 crore nett.
