His may be a ten minute film but when it’s your directorial debut, every minute counts.Rohit Roy cherishes each of these ten minutes that make up his film.

Rohit Roy talks to Vidya Prabhu on directing Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi and refusing Ektaa Kapoor

His may be a ten minute film but when it’s your directorial debut, every minute counts. And of course, Rohit Roy cherishes each of these ten minutes that make up his film ‘Rice Plate’, one of the ten short films of ‘Dus Kahaniyan’.

That he managed to rope in the likes of Naseeruddin Shah and Shabana Azmi only helped. Predictably then, Rohit is excited.

“Both Nasser bhai and Shabana Azmi have left an indelible mark in the field of Indian and international cinema; obviously it was a joy to work with these actors who gave their 200 percent to the film,” he raves.

But he also adds that he was anything but nervous. “It’s a dream debut; I couldn’t have asked for more. Even the producer Sanjay Gupta let me have complete freedom,” he elaborates.

However, Naseeruddin Shah not having a single dialogue in the film certainly mak-
es for an interesting revelation.

“Yes, that does sound alarming but to tell you the truth, Naseerbhai is such a fine actor that his body language throughout gets the point across,” explains Rohit.

And now that he’s tasted success, Rohit is on a high. “While my work was being appreciated all along, I didn’t really have a hit film to my credit.

So ‘Shootout at Lokhandwala’ has definitely changed things for me; today I’m a more ‘bankable’ actor; producers have more confidence in me,” says Rohit, who was even offered roles in a Boney Kapoor film, a Shashi Ranjan movie and yes, the much talked about Ekta Kapoor show.

“Unfortunately, none of the three have worked out. I have always wanted to work with Ekta; a Boney Kapoor film is the stuff actors dream of. But my dates were committed to ‘Alibaug’ and I had to turn them down,” he reasons, adding that for Shashi’s film, he felt that he was not suited for the role.

Lastly, is the recent controversy revolving around Dia Mirza still stinging him?

“No, not at all. Earlier, there was some unnecessary awkwardness but that has died down. Dia and I have no issues at all,” signs off Rohit, who’s also looking forward to his other films ‘Mittal V/s Mittal’ and the Mithun starrer ‘Don Muthuswami’.