Tota Roy Chowdhury says Karan Johar was particular about not making him a ‘caricature’ in Rocky Aur Rani, praises Ranveer Singh

Tota Roy Chowdhury's portrayal of Chondon Chatterjee in Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani is winning hearts.

Tota Roy Chowdhury in a still from Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani.

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Ranveer Singh and Tota Roy Chowdhury are receiving a ton of acclaim for their Dola Re sequence in Karan Johar’s Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani. In the film, Tota plays Chondon Chatterjee, who is a Kathak dancer, and a sequence in the film has the Randhawas trying to embarrass him for loving his art. But later, when Ranveer’s Rocky embraces the dance form and performs it on stage with him, the Randhawas are shocked leading to a big showdown between Rani and the family.

In a recent chat with India Today, Tota congratulated Karan for creating a sequence like that as such parts in Hindi films are very rare to come by. “Karan sir was very clear about one thing that the character of Chondon Chatterjee, the one that I have played, cannot look like a caricature. It should be somebody who is confident in his own skin, somebody who celebrates the idea of culture, of his dance form, of his art, if I may call it. He was very clear about this, that it has to be depicted in a very proper manner,” he said. Tota added that he rehearsed for months for his dance portions in the film.

Speaking about dancing with Ranveer, Tota said that he had his work cut out as the Gully Boy actor is “easily the best dancer, one of the best dancers around.” He added, “Ranveer is a delight to work with because he is so full of positivity. He’s such a lovely human being, not one mean bone in his body. He’s always so open, nice, always smiling, always making the other person feel important. He’s a different breed altogether. They don’t make human beings like him anymore. And I’m talking about in every field. He’s a lovely human being and working with him has been such a delight, in spite of him being such a big star. He was super star. He’s so down to earth. Working with him has always been good and he put in 200 per cent because he was also quite conscious about being authentic.”

Also Read | Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani writer Ishita Moitra breaks down characters of Jaya Bachchan, Ranveer Singh-Alia Bhatt, calls film a ‘love letter’ to Hindi cinema

In an earlier chat with Film Companion, Karan Johar said that his past experiences as an “effeminate” man who was “laughed at” for body language inspired Tota Roy Chowdhury’s character. Karan said, “People look at you and laugh. You’re called all kinds of things. There are terms used. And it stayed in my heart. I grew up with the feeling that I was laughed at for my body language and for my way of being. Somewhere, Tota’s character is borrowed from my childhood. So, when he says ‘hunar ka koi gender nahi hota’, I believe that.”

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