The versatile TV star reveals his career ambitions and why he needed different acting skills to do an audio series
TOP talent Rithvik Dhanjani has blazed a trail of fire on television with terrific turns as an actor, host, and reality show participant.
The multi-talented star has clocked up an impressive body of work and has branched off into the web series space with big projects like gripping 2021 show Cartel, which has received rave reviews.
Recently, the versatile actor added another feather to his cap by playing a lead role in audio series Buri Nazar. The drama has got great acclaim, and with a strong fan base and more major projects on the way, the popular performer is looking forward to pushing himself into new spaces with more challenges.
Eastern Eye caught up with Rithvik to discuss his action-packed journey, the success of Cartel, new audio series, future hopes, and lockdown life lessons.
How do you look back on your action-packed career?
It’s been a very joyous and adventurous ride. From my first show Pyaar Ki Ek Kahani up until my latest one Buri Nazar and so many more to come, it’s been a journey that has been nothing less than a blessing.
You have had many highlights, but which has been the most memorable?
The most memorable highlight of my career has to be Pavitra Rishta, because it truly gave me a platform in terms of my standing as an actor, anchor and who I am. So, I think definitely the time I spent with Pavitra Rishta was the most amazing and is closest to my heart.
What was the experience of working in your recent web series Cartel like?
Oh my god, working on Cartel has honestly been a dream for a very long time – to do something like this, where I am not myself and completely shed who I am, completely get into the skin of a character who is totally different to what I am. The way my character looks, walks, talks and everything else is completely poles apart from who I am, so it was exciting to play the character. I got such positive reviews, and it has been an honour to be part of it.
How much do the positive reviews mean to you?
In fact, just yesterday I was driving, and a policeman stopped me mid-way in traffic. I had no idea why he was doing that and thought I did something wrong. When he stopped me, I opened my window and said, ‘Sorry sir, did I do something wrong?’ And he’s like, ‘I only stopped you to tell you Cartel and you in it are fantastic.’ I was so overwhelmed that I can’t tell you what it was like. It was such a warm thing that he did, stopped me in the middle of the road to just tell me that he liked my work. So yes, Cartel is a huge blessing for me.
What led towards your latest audio project Buri Nazar?
Of course, the artists who I was collaborating with, Sayani Gupta and Supriya Pathak-ji. It’s definitely them. The script was amazing, plus the idea of being in a room and act with your voice – narrating the story, emotions, and everything through just your voice in that four-by-four room. I think that was honestly challenging, yet very
exciting and very fulfilling. All of us at the same time felt, ‘wow’. I felt I have really been missing out on this. So that is what made me take up Buri Nazar.
So what was it like to just use your voice to act?
The experience of just using my voice has been phenomenal. You are bound there with so many limitations because you can’t move or interact with another person. All that you have is your voice to completely tell the entire story – where you are, what you feel and everything through just dialogues. It’s a beautiful feeling for an actor to
lend their voice. I think it is so much more difficult because you don’t have the help an actor usually has, with no camera, lights, stage, people, nothing. Just you and your voice. It’s exciting, yet very challenging.
Did you learn anything new while doing this project?
Something new that I learned was, I am capable of doing so much more with myself. I wasn’t sure if I could pull this off – could I perform and emote just using my voice? I wasn’t confident, but now I think I can. It was revolutionary for me. It has been amazing to just be able to do that with my voice.
What can we expect next from you?
Some amazing, kick-ass stuff that I’ve been working on. Of course I can’t talk much about it, but there are some great shows lined up that are going to be so amazing. I can’t wait to share it with the world, especially my fans.
What is the biggest life lesson lockdown has taught you?
The biggest lockdown lesson I learned is that you have got to be content with what you have, no matter who you are. No matter how big or small, everyone is the same at the core and have the same human emotions. Everyone craves love, family, and attention. It is very important for you to be close to your loved ones. Give love and show you love them because they are the ones who will stand by you in times when no one else will. It is very important for us to be kinder, more loving, and more vocal about how we feel about our friends, family and those we truly love. We have to be vocal and tell them we care, and that we are there for them. That’s what the lockdown has taught me.
You have done a wide array of projects including hosting, acting, reality TV and now an audio series. Is there something new you want to attempt?
I would love to attempt something brand new. I love doing things I have never done before. I have been thrown into situations and places where I am out of my comfort zone, so yes, I absolutely would love to do something new. I don’t have something specific in mind in terms of what I want to do but yeah, if something new comes up, bring it on. If there is anybody who thinks there is something challenging out there for me, I would love to do that.
Do you have a dream role?
Very honestly, I am a huge Sherlock Holmes fan because I love detective dramas. If ever there was to be a Sherlock made in India, I would love to do it and would give my life to that character. It’s how much I love being a detective. So, this is something I would really like.
Finally, what inspires you?
What inspires me is life. Being able to live every day inspires me. Being able to wake up every day and see the sun rise inspires me. These things really inspire me and make me happy.
The actor’s evolving style from youth to maturity getty images
Aamir Khan embracing vintage looks with classic charmgetty images
Bold and dramatic changes defining Aamir Khan’s careergetty images
From rugged to refined Aamir Khan’s versatile appearancesgetty images
Memorable film moments showcasing Aamir Khan’s unique stylegetty images
Aamir Khan’s blend of classic and contemporary fashiongetty images
Aamir Khan’s dedication to authentic character portrayals getty images
Cinematic milestones reflected in Aamir Khan’s on-screen imagegetty images
A seated Jain enlightened teacherAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Ganesha from JavaAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
A Chinese silk painting depicting the BuddhaAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
ArdhanarishvaraAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Head of a grimacing yakshaAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
NagaAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Bimaran casketAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Hunia Chawla
A still from rehearsal
Them performing liveNajmuddin Saifuddin Qawwal Group
The cast of Marriage Material in key moments from the play, including Avita Jay, Kiran Landa, Omar Malik, Irfan Shamji and Anoushka Deshmukh
Sathnam Sanghera’s 'Marriage Material' adapted into bold new play on conformity
The play Marriage Material at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre is Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti’s adaptation of Sathnam Sanghera’s novel of the same name, which first came out in 2013.
She is lucky to have Iqbal Khan direct Marriage Material. The play, a co-production with the Birmingham Rep, is set in the late 1960s. Mr and Mrs Bains (played by Jaz Singh Deol and Avita Jay) run a corner shop in Wolverhampton. Their younger daughter, Surinder (Anoushka Deshmukh), is 16, her sister Kamaljit (Kiran Landa) is just a bit older.
They have a neighbour, Patwant Dhanda (Irfan Shamji), who, as we shall soon see, is not a very pleasant man. In fact, he comes across just as racist as Enoch Powell, who represented Wolverhampton South West for the Tories from 1950 to 1974.
It will be recalled this was a time when Sikhs working on the buses were told they couldn’t wear a turban. That was a hard-fought battle that had to be won.
The Bains, meanwhile, simply want to get their girls married off.
Nothing new here, I thought.
What makes the tale different is that the plot twists and turns down the generations. Mr Dhanda, who has the makings of a paedophile, makes a pitch for one of the girls when Mr Bains dies early in the play. “A life with no man in the house is no life,” he informs the newly widowed Mrs Bains.
Mr Dhanda has a wife but she has returned to India so he considers himself to be a free man.
Surinder’s English teacher from school, Miss Flanagan (Celeste Dodwell), who is also head of the fifth form, tells Mrs Bains about her daughter: “I don’t want to embarrass you, but she is bright. Ridiculously bright.”
She adds: “Mrs Bains, I think it would be a pity if Surinder didn’t stay on at school.” The initial response from Mrs Bains is not encouraging: “Too much education makes people’s brains get mixed up, they don’t sleep at night…”
But she is finally persuaded that Surinder should be allowed to stay on for a while longer before being married off.
Mr Bains was very old school. When Surinder confides she would one day like to be “a somebody”, he is amused that “my daughter wants to be a somebody”.
“Like you,” she tells her father.
Mr Bains consoles his daughter: “We will find a somebody for you to marry.”
At the point of a possible marriage, however, Surinder is sweet-talked by chocolate salesman Jim Wilson (Tommy Belshaw) into running away with him. They share a love of literature, and he calls her “Sue Bains”. But the relationship does not end well.
Once she has left, Surinder is written off as “dead” by her family. The story that is circulated is that she was only 16 when she was killed in a car crash. That’s better than to let on that she ran off with a white man.
By the time she is reconciled with her sister towards the end of the play, a great deal has changed. Kamaljit married Tanvir Banga (Omar Malik), a young man who helped out in the Bains’ corner shop. When the two sisters meet again, Tanvir has also died. But he and Kamaljit had a son, Arjan Banga (Jaz Singh Deol doubles up for this role after the death of Mr Bains). He has come home after his father’s death to help his mother who is still running the family corner shop.
Meanwhile, Mr Dhanda’s business has prospered. He now has a son, Ranjit Dhanda (the role is taken by Omar Malik after Tanvir’s death), and he is nearly as unpleasant as his father.
Arjan has an English fiancée, Claire (Celeste Dodwell). In London, Arjan worked as a creative director. But after deciding to stay in Wolverhampton to help his mother, he decides he cannot marry Claire because she is white. In other words, Asians are not free of racism, either. Happily, at the end, the couple are reconciled.
As for Surinder, she parted company with Jim Wilson after realising he was all talk, depended on her for money and had failed to earn a penny from his literary pretensions. She had prospered, though, as a hotel owner and had been transformed in time into a well-groomed businesswoman. After being tracked down by Arjan, she decides to return to her roots in Wolverhampton and help Kamaljit run the family corner shop. Perhaps 50 years had passed during the passage of the play.
Being subjected to racism turned some Asians into racists themselves. The word goreh (white person) is repeatedly spat out with venom. Maybe it is worth remembering the play’s audience isn’t exclusively Asian – white folk are watching as well. And maybe some of the toilet humour ridiculing white people, which always makes me cringe, could be cut out.
In Sanghera’s novel, there is a quote from Enoch Powell’s speech in November 1968: “The West Indian or Asian does not, by being born in England, become an Englishman. In law he becomes a United Kingdom citizen by birth; in fact, he is a west Indian or an Asian still... he will by the very nature of things have lost one country without gaining another, lost one nationality without acquiring a new one. Time is running out against us and them. With the lapse of a generation or so we shall at last have succeeded – to the benefit of nobody – in reproducing ‘in England’s green and pleasant land’ the haunting tragedy of the US.”
In Marriage Material, where the acting is marvellous (apart from Mr Dhanda’s Indian mannerisms and accent being overdone) we do travel across a couple of generations.
There is a scene when Tanvir rejects Mr Dhanda’s vision of creating a little Punjab in Wolverhampton.
Mr Dhanda wants to take over the Bains’ corner shop and is putting pressure on Tanvir to sign the papers. He says: “In this country, money is the path to freedom.”
“Sign, please,” he instructs Tanvir. “We must make sure our children learn to behave nicely, according to our rules.”
He insists: “We maintain our identity so we can be ourselves.”
Tanvir disagrees: “We can be us here. With the goreh.”
Dhanda warns him: “Then we will be inviting chaos.”
Tanvir’s comment is telling: “You sound like Enoch.”
Kamaljit, who is expecting a baby with her husband Tanvir, says: “I would like my child to grow up knowing the history of the Gurus and to read the Granth Sahib. And to love their culture.”
Tanvir tells his wife: “I would like my child to go to the finest schools, to cheer for England in the World Cup and eat Yorkshire pudding on a Sunday.”
Kamaljit sets out a dream that has perhaps come to pass with many third and fourth generation British Asians: “Maybe our child can do both.” Much, much later, in a throwback to the past, we learn of Surinder’s O-level results: “Biology A, Chemistry A, English Language A, English Literature A, French A, History B, Latin A, Mathematics A, Physics A…”
Kamaljit tells her younger sister: “Never mind about the B.”
And that is quintessentially Asian. Their acting is outstanding.
Marriage Material is at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre until June 21, and at the Birmingham Rep from June 25-July 5