Randeep Hooda gets candid about his love for Punjab at FICCI FLO function

Amritsar, March 23

Actor Randeep Hooda is not your usual Bollywood star. From undergoing extreme body transformations and speaking about their health repercussion publically to calling out several production team for shelving or unreleased projects, he doesn’t shy away from speaking his mind.

And that’s what he stuck to while addressing a special interaction with FICCI FLO Amritsar chapter chairperson Himani Arora and Meeta Mehra, on Friday evening. Hooda, whose latest biographical film, Sawatantra Veer Savarkar, where he plays the role of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar aka Veer Savarkar, opened this Friday, seemed in a relaxed mood as talked about films, his wedding and his fondness for Punjab. “I always enjoy my trips to Punjab and Amritsar, whether it was for Sarabjit or for my web series CAT. I always feel blessed when I pay obeisance at Golden Temple as well,” he shared.

Speaking about his time while shooting for a film on Battle of Saragarhi, which eventually did get released, Randeep has publically acknowledged how he went into depression when the project got shelved. But he also shared that working on the film and embracing Sikhi saroop for his role of Havildar Ishar Singh made him realize few things. “As an actor, I am always striving to learn, how to shoot with a camera, how to produce. But I also learnt while researching on Sikhism during the time, that there is a Sikh inside me. The concept of sewa that is part of the religion or part of the teachings of Gurus is amazing. I was happy that got to experience that,” he said.

He spoke about how he got inspired by his sister, who was an aspiring actor in Delhi while studying. “I saw my sister acting in a theatrical adaptation of Westside story and she won an award for her role at the time. So, I thought if she can do it, so can I. That’s what initially got me interested in acting,” he said.

As for his latest release, Hooda said that he hopes that audience accepts the film with open hearts. Hooda also paid obeisance at the Golden Temple.