Ranjeet: I hit Sridevi with a hunter and returned to my room and wailed! – #BigInterview

With refreshing candour, yesteryear actor Ranjeet says he is free for an interview and that any actor, who claims to be busy during the pandemic, is only lying. During the chat that follows, he confesses he has become lazy during the lockdown, and that he had to take a dip in the pool so that he felt awake enough for the chat. Like most actors of his time, he loves sharing anecdotes and narrating stories. Two hours fly by as he recounts, for ETimes’ #BigInterview, the decisions that shaped his life, the way he was rechristened from Gopal Bedi to Ranjeet, and how professionalism is a non-negotiable aspect. Excerpts:
You’ve been doing a lot of gardening lately…

I have been fond of gardening since childhood. Fortunately, in Bombay too, we had a terrace, so I could continue my hobby. During the lockdown, the terrace was no longer being used for socialising, so, I started experimenting with vegetables. It’s a great feeling to reap the few okra or cucumbers grown by yourself. The caption of one of your recent Instagram posts read, “Ayeee… Guitar bajaya… Gaana b gaaya… fir b hero nahi banaa….”. Do you have any regrets about the work you couldn’t do?


(Laughs) That was just a joke. I am an actor by chance, but I was never very excited about it. I had no Godfather here and yet got so many films, I had no time to come home. I had become an hourly actor at one point in time, going from one set to the next, and sleeping in my car. All this wasn’t for money; I didn’t even know how much I was making as my manager was given the power of attorney to take my fees and invest it as he deemed fit. I was doing this for my first family–the one on the sets. People used to announce films with me without even telling me first; they knew that as a friend, I won’t turn them down.
Your first film, for which you came to Bombay, was shelved…


I was a footballer and went by the name Goli. For fun, I and three other friends applied for the Air Force exams, which were very difficult to crack. But we managed to get in and were training in Coimbatore. Unfortunately, due to tensions with my supervisor there, I had to quit. When I returned to Delhi, I didn’t know what to do. I was attending a party when I met Ranjeet Singh who went by the name Ronnie, who wanted to cast me in a film he was making with newcomers. Now I had heard stories of filmwallahs coming to the North, promising films to youngsters and then exploiting them, so I was wary but gave my nod. I was to play the role of the protagonist, who was a truck driver’s helper. Since I was tanned and skinny, I would look the part. I didn’t tell my friends because I didn’t think I had the personality or looks of an actor and telling my family was out of the question because they were so orthodox, we couldn’t even read a film magazine with heroine’s pics on it.

Go on…


But when Ronnie came to Bombay, his friends in the industry advised him against making a film with a rank newcomer since he himself too was one. So, he sent me a postcard saying he would cast me in another, equally important role in the film. I came down to Bombay, and on my second day here, met and dined with Sunil Dutt, who immediately took a fancy to me. The next day I met Raj (Kapoor) saab; for the first time I had met a man with blue eyes, and cheeks so fair! Basically, I met most of the industry within 15-20 days. Unfortunately, Ronnie hadn’t introduced me as his find, and everyone assumed I was just a helping hand to him. One day, out of the blue, he told me he would be shelving the film. I had to move out of the suburban five-star hotel where I was staying with him and to a bungalow on Dilip (Kumar) saab’s younger brother’s insistence. I didn’t want to go looking for work, so I decided to go back to Delhi.

A friend asked me to get him some work in a production house and just before leaving the city, I took him to Dutt saab’s office. There, the manager told me that Dutt saab was angry with me as he had been trying to get in touch with me for a role and was unable to. That’s how I landed ‘Reshma Aur Shera’. The next day, Mohan Saigal called me asking if I’d want to do a small role in his film ‘Sawan Bhaadon’, I said I would. That’s how I started my career–playing a brother in two back-to-back releases, but fir poori zindagi main ladkiyon ke kapde kheenchte reh gaya (for the rest of my life, I kept playing a baddie who molested women).

Wasn’t it Dutt saab who changed your name to Ranjeet?


Yes, it was when we were shooting my debut film. Once, when we were driving down to Jaisalmer from the remote location where we were shooting, Dutt saab pointed out that since there were two comedians–V Gopal and Gopal Saigal–and also a popular journalist by the same name, I should change my name. I asked him to give me one and when he asked which alphabet I preferred, I quipped ‘R’ without much thought. Immediately, he came up with ‘Ranjeet’ and that was that. I had read about king Ranjeet who was very famous but also blind in one eye and had a pock-marked face (laughs). He instructed his team to credit me with my new name in the film. Thankfully, I could make him proud of me.

You’ve played a rapist in as many as 350 films. Didn’t you ever think of consciously changing your image?


Back in those days, no one listened to the story before signing a film; even the main heroes were told only a line. Actors like me assumed that if a filmmaker was coming to them, it must be for a role that he is fit for. I have never interfered with anyone’s scripts and I didn’t feel the need to. I didn’t have any problem with playing a villain. Of course, there were social repercussions, initially. My family was livid but eventually, they realised it was my job. I never planned my career; just moulded myself into whatever came my way. I went out of my way to make my heroines comfortable, so much so, that after a while even when I was not a part of the film, but there was a rape scene, they would tell the filmmaker to call me. They started calling me the rape specialist. Back in the day–it wasn’t vulgar; we had a set format–hero, heroine, comedian, villain, sister, mother. It was not like now; there were no lovemaking scenes. Why don’t they make a blue film only then? I always joke that change in fashion killed my career; women started wearing such short clothes, there was nothing left to pull (chuckles).

Is that why we don’t see you doing a web series?


I was once offered the role of an investigative cop who is abusive, which I turned down outright. They told me even Naseeruddin Shah abuses, so, I told them to take him only instead. There is so much nudity and abusive language on such shows, I can’t put the TV on in front of family or household help; it is embarrassing. Nudity never sells; emotions only matter at the end of the day. When I made my film ‘Kaarnama’, Hrishikesh Mukherjee hugged me because he loved the way I had shot the lovemaking scene. Everyone thought that since this ‘lecherous man’ Ranjeet is making a film, it will be vulgar, but it was passed with a straight ‘U’ certificate. The Censor Board recommended my film to members of the parliament.

Were you ever offered lead roles?


Yes, there were a few instances. I was once offered the role of a bicycle thief but told the makers they would be better off taking a known name for it since I was a villain and wouldn’t look good singing and dancing; they took offence at my suggestion (laughs). Then there was a film on Valmiki, who wrote Ramayan. But the Valmiki society of India didn’t allow us to release it as they had a problem with him being shown as a dacoit; but we couldn’t have changed facts, right? The third film was very interesting and I’d still like to make it. It was the story of a cannibal medical student who resorts to black magic to gain miraculous healing powers. I’d even shot fully nude for a scene in the film.

Any film that you regret not doing?


None. In fact, I was also offered ‘Sholay’ but refused. When the film was first announced in a film paper, it featured Danny as the villain, but we were shooting for ‘Dharmatma’ in Afghanistan at the time, and Feroze Khan told him to stay back. He reasoned with him saying what will you do in a film with three heroes; here I am giving you a solo song with Hema Malini (laughs). I was going to shoot in Bangalore after wrapping up my portions in Afghanistan, and the makers of ‘Sholay’ came to me to request me to also do their film which was being shot at the same place. But how could I have replaced my friend without his permission? Who knew Gabbar Singh would be such a huge hit! But perhaps if I had done the role, it wouldn’t have worked too.

Which was your most difficult scene to date?


In a film called ‘Zamanat’, the director wanted to introduce the villain as having a pet cobra. I agreed thinking it would be a rubber snake. On reaching the sets, I found it was a live snake. I refused to shoot, they tried to convince me it was harmless but I wasn’t buying it. Finally, when the shoot was delayed by two-three hours, I decided to give it a go but not before threatening the snake charmer to shoot him if his snake did anything to me. I had thought he would run for the hills on hearing that, but he persisted. The snake was coiled around my hand, and I was holding it by the neck. It was restless, as was I, and in the confusion, it bit me. I forgot my dialogue but didn’t want to give a retake, so I improvised. I inserted evil laughter to get some time to think before finally saying, ‘Naagraj, main tumhe doodh pilata hoon, aur tum mujhe kaat te rehte ho (I feed you milk and you keep biting me)’. There was applause all around, but for a month after that, I couldn’t sleep because I feared there were snakes on my chest.
That was very professional of you…


Do you know I flew down to Hyderabad to shoot for a film the day my father passed away? I was like a rock but when he died, I shook like a leaf. Relatives started coming down from all over the country to pay their last respects as he was the eldest in the family, but I took the flight out. I decided to shoot for my portions so that the sets don’t go to waste, and my father, who had never been accused of any wrongdoing in life, didn’t end up being blamed for the failed shoot on his death bed. So, I went there, laughed aloud like a villain for the camera, went back to my room and sobbed, hit Sridevi with a hunter, returned to the room wailing; I kept washing my face with chilled soda in between shots so that no one would know.

You have often spoken about your parents’ relationships. But how did you meet your wife?


I had never seen my parents fighting; my wife has her opinions and we have our arguments, especially over politics because our views are very different. How I met her was that I was going to cast her in my film, but my parents liked her–she was modern yet homely, could speak English as well as Punjabi–what else could I want. My younger brother and sister were married and my parents were really keen on me settling down. Par un dino ke Ranjeet ko kaun apni beti deta (Who’d have married their daughter to the then Ranjeet)? Luckily, my in-laws did; I insisted on an intimate wedding with only immediate family present. Later, one of my wife’s relatives was livid when she found out she had been married to me. They told my mother-in-law that she should’ve instead poisoned or drowned her daughter than letting her marry me. They tried to instigate them saying that they should check their daughter’s body for marks of violence because surely I got drunk and beat her up every evening. My in-laws shot back that if anyone would get hit in the relationship, it would be Ranjeet (laughs).

You turned 80 recently. What do you plan to do now?


My main focus now is to take care of myself and my health, so that I don’t become a burden on my children. I do the work that comes my way; there’s no point in planning, which is something this pandemic has taught us. There was only one historical film that I was keen on making, after reading the novel ‘Jai Somnath’, but I can’t chase people; if they feel that I can make it, they can come to me. It can be a good series too. My children are both star material, and my son will make his debut soon.

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