In conversation with Amole Gupte

The very versatile and committed Amole Gupte is a reluctant actor. Proof of this lies in the fact that he has just edited himself out of his own directorial venture Hawaa Hawaai. The film about a roller-skating teacher (Salim Saqib) and his favourite pupil (played by Amole’s very talented son Partho) featured the director in a cameo. Amole decided against keeping himself in his film. If he has said yes to Rohit Shetty’s Singham 2 it’s only because Amole Gupte is a big Golmaal fan. Amole’s pre-condition for signing the Singham 2? He must not play a Maharashtrian again. Says Amole, “I’ve done the Maharashtrian villain in Vishal Bharadwaj’s Kaminey. So while Ajay Devgn and Kareena are Maharashtrians, I am not. We thought it would be too much of a cliché to pitch a Maharashtrian cop-hero against a Maharashtrian villain. So my character of the villain would not be region-specific.” Amole Gupte who went through a health scare last year is taking no chances with his physiology. For his new role in Rohit Shetty’s film Amole needs to put on weight. Says Amole, “I lost weight last year because of my health issues. I need to look heftier for my role in Rohit’s film. I am routing my weight-gain through a nutritionist. I’ve to be very careful because I am diabetic.” Amole Gupte who has agreed to play the arch-villain in Rohit Shetty’s Singham 2 says he is a big fan of Shetty’s Golmaal series, “Especially Golmaal 3 is my most favourite. I play the true blue villain Rohit’s Singham 2.” Amole thought over Rohit’s offer for just a day. “I almost immediately decided to do it. I knew there would be no filth. By the way, I was also offered Indra Kumar’s Grand Masti, Kaizad Gustad’s Jackpot and Mohit Suri’s Villain. But during the months of November and December there was no way I could take time off from the shooting of my own film Hawaa Hawaai.” Amole’s Hawaa Hawaai is all set for a May 9 release. He had a cameo part in the film but decided to delete it. “I took it off. I thought, what was I doing? It looked too gimmicky. Subhash Ghai can make an appearance in his films because he makes larger-than-life films. My film is too true to life for gimmicks.”