People said – don't do a film on Veer Savarkar: Randeep Hooda said – everyone refused, so the curiosity to do a film increased.

These days Randeep Hooda is in the news about his personal and professional life. On one hand, he is in news for his marriage with Lynn Laishram and on the other hand, he is in news for the film 'Swatantrya Veer Savarkar'. Randeep has also become a director for the first time with this film, which is going to be released in theaters on March 22 in Hindi and Marathi languages.

Randeep had a special conversation with Dainik Bhaskar on his married life along with acting, co-writing and production along with directing the film. Randeep Hooda said that initially people had forbidden him to do films. People said that by doing a film on a political person, you will get caught in controversy. Hearing all this, a curiosity arose in the mind of Randeep Hooda and he agreed to do the film.

What was your first reaction when the offer of 'Swatantrya Veer Savarkar' came? The first thing I felt was that I did not look like Veer Savarkar. Secondly, my well-wishers were saying that do not make a film on Savarkar ji. You are a great artist, you will become a political person like Savarkar ji, there will be controversy. These things further increased my curiosity.

How did you feel acting in your own direction?
I have been working for over two decades. Right from the beginning of his career, after getting the OK for the scene, he never checks the monitor to see how he has performed. A voice would come from inside. I was also the director in this, so I knew what was required. Many times I would forget to take my own shorts because I was busy with other work. He was associated less as an actor and more as a director.

Lost a lot of weight for the film Swatantra Veer Savarkar. Tell us about this in detail?
I started losing weight long ago. Actually, some time ago I broke my knee. Because of this I remained bedridden for 8 weeks. My weight increased while lying in bed. Then I lost weight again, and it cost me my life.

This low weight lasted for so long that my body got injured a lot. I remained underweight for at least two years. Underweight means usually I am around 90 kg, but during this picture I was 60-65 kg. Due to being so underweight, my joints started hurting. You can survive for a month or two by losing 25-30 kg, but being underweight for two years becomes painful.

You were 25-30 kg underweight for two years. What was your eating routine like during this period?
In our Hindu religion there is fasting and in Muslims there is Roza, in the same way I used to fast. I did not eat anything for 16-16 hours. I had to lose a lot of weight, so I didn't eat anything for 20 hours. When he did eat, he only ate nuts, chickpeas or eggs. In this way he used to eat for 3-4 hours in every 24 hours. The rest remained hungry, because only by being hungry can one lose so much weight and maintain it. In the beginning he also used to run races.

Usually he used to hit 10-12 raps, but at that time he started hitting 50 to 100 raps. It made a lot of difference. He also used to do a lot of walking. After a point the weight loss stopped. Meaning, I didn't have enough courage to do it, so I left it.

You got married recently, share some memories?
We went to Manipur and got married. This was done because we always go to the girl's house and get married. I wanted to respect their customs and family. However, the situation in Manipur was serious at that time. Only a few people including my parents, brother and sister went to the wedding ceremony there. After the marriage, while talking to my brother-in-law Manikant Laishram, he said that at this time only Jats could come and get married here.

Your marriage took place as per Meitei customs. Which rituals did you like at the wedding?
One is his costume, which my wife wore. It was very simple. Don't burn fire there. One has to sit straight near the Tulsi plant. I was told that for today you are God. You can't move. There was a helper with me. My nose used to itch, then he would come and scratch my nose, because I could not move or smile.

I remained sitting in the same position for one and a half hour. When Lynn came, everyone was looking at her, while I could not even see. When she came in front of me, I saw her. Another nice custom they all do. The groom's mother is made to sit on the other side of the mandap. You are not moving and mother is sitting in front of you. Its meaning is that your wife is like your mother. Respect your wife as much as your mother. I liked this custom very much.

What thing touched the heart of wife Lynn that you agreed to make her your life partner?
Look, we are friends. Secondly, she follows Hindu customs even more than me. She is a very good actress. In all the films I have seen his work, I have found it very good. Our friendship had been going on for many years, but only now we took the step of living like a family. Many people said do this, do that, but I said that marriage happens between two families.

Unless we do the wedding and reception with full rituals in front of the people of the society, that marriage is not happening, it will have to live together, so we got married with rituals.

You say that I am not a puppet in the hands of the director. In such a situation, how do you maintain coordination with the director?
I never interact much with the director on the set. I believe that whatever you want to talk about or confront, do it first. Once we start shooting the film, both of us know what we are doing. There is a little variation here and there. If we are not able to reach anywhere, then the director helps you. But there is no discussion about what to do after going to the set.

I myself read the script more than the director and practice beforehand.