‘I want to be treated like a star’

Armed with the title role in the Hollywood flick, The Last Pharaoh, actor Ruslaan Mumtaz tells CTthat when the offer came his way, he thought someone was pulling a fast one on him
DIPANNITA GHOSH BISWAS Times News Network
You’ve landed yourself a role in a Hollywood film, The Last Pharaoh...

• It so happened that the cinematographer of MP3, Amitav Singh, had sent some clippings from the film to the Oscar-nominated director, Christopher Miles. That’s where he saw me and thought that I suited the role of King Farouk, whose biography is The Last Pharaoh. Christopher had been wanting to make this film for a long time but they were unable to find a face that resembled that of the young Pharaoh. Actually, no British or American actor could look like the Pharaoh, and the unit needed someone with a Middle-Eastern look. I auditioned for the role and Christopher came down with a few costumes. I tried them out and consequently, the role was mine.

How does it feel to be cast as the lead in a Hollywood film when you are just a film old in Mumbai’s tinselville?

• When I read the script, I thought someone was pulling a fast one on me. It’s not just a King’s role, but also the lead character. The film is replete with fight sequences, and there’s enough scope to act. It definitely took me some time to come to terms with it. Only when I signed on the dotted line did it sink in.

So, where will the film be shot?

• It will be shot partly in Jaipur and partly in Egypt. It’s a political drama and there are a lot of war sequences. I am quite excited about acting with Jonathan Pryce, who plays a negative character in the film. We’ll start filming from September.

What’s happening on the Bollywood front?

• I will begin working on Nikhil Advani’s Jaane Kaha Se Aayi Hai, which stars Ayesha Takia and Ritiesh Deshmukh and is directed by Milap Zaveri. In the pipeline is Mast-tang Mama, a comedy by ad film-makerturner-director, Vikram Singh. In this film, I play a young good-for-nothing mama, who’s left to look after his bhanja for 15 days. Though the film is a lot on the lines of Hum Hai Rahi Pyar Ke, there’s just one kid instead of three. These days, one kid is good enough to turn your life into hell!

Did you slow down after MP3 because the film turned out to be a damp squib at the BO?

• In a way, I think I did the right thing by not taking up all the offers that came my way after MP3. What I have in my kitty now is what any newcomer would dream of. In Jaane Kaha Se Aayi Hai, I play a 25-year-old and there’s a lot of physique to flaunt as well. For this, I have to be in shape now and I’m working out religiously.

So, is all this working out helping you on the personal front too?

• (Laughs) I have hurt my knees now, I’m completely immobile and nobody is even sparing me a glance. In fact, even when I have to work out, I sit on a chair and do so. But all I have to tell the beautiful women out there is to wait and watch.

So far you’ve played a solo hero. Do multi-starrers give you cold feet?

• I’m not too sure about ensemble cast films. When I’m cast as the lead, I’m the hero on the sets as well. I fear, if there’s another star then the unit’s attention will get diverted. I want to be treated like a star, all the time.

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