There were limited choices when I started out: Riteish By Juhi Chakraborty

New Delhi: Riteish Deshmukh's comedy-heavy resume is a proof that he is the go-to-man for the genre in Bollywood. The actor says comedies happened to him because there were not many other options when he began his career though he now enjoys being a part of such projects. Riteish has attempted all possible genres within the realm of light entertainers - be it adult comedies like the "Masti" and "Kya Kool Hai Hum" franchises, rural comedy with "Malamaal Weekly" and others including "Housefull" and "Dhamaal" series.

The actor says when he entered the film industry in 2003 with romantic drama "Tujhe Meri Kasam", he never anticipated that eventually he will have so many comedies to his credit. "It is just the kinds of films that came my way. I didn't plan on doing so many comedies. Once a film became successful, more such roles were offered to me. Ten years ago or when I started out, there were limited choices as compared to today," Riteish told PTI. "That time comedies were working well, so I got to do some series that did really well. I was happy to be in them. I am happy with the films I did as I have done different kinds of comedies."

The 38-year-old actor will be next seen in another comedy "Bank Chor", which has been directed by Bumpy and is produced by Y-Films, a subsidiary of Yash Raj Films, headed by Ashish Patil. The bank robbery film, which releases on June 16, has been in the news ever since it was announced after comedian Kapil Sharma backed out of the project and Riteish came on board. The actor says he was not hesitant to take up a project which has been passed on by one-film-old Kapil as he believes every film has its own destiny. "I don't look at it like someone has refused the film or the film did not work out with someone and hence it has come to me.

I take a film for the merit that it holds, primarily because Yash Raj is producing it. "I knew that they have spent enough time on the content. Aditya Chopra called me and asked me to read it. I liked the subject and said yes. It was that simple. I don't think we need to read too much into it," he says. Although comic capers have been the highlight of his career, Riteish has tried his hand in other genres with films like "Bluffmaster", "Darna Zaroori Hai" and "Ek Villain" in which he played the antagonist. His last film "Banjo" saw him in the role of a musician, which was a departure from the regular comedies that he is part of. However, the film did not work at the box office.

On whether the failure of such films deter him from experimenting further with his characters, Riteish says, "Not really. You need to reason it with choices you make. "When a film like 'Banjo' doesn't work, you have to revisit what went wrong, so that the next time when I choose a film in that genre, I am able to address the problems." Besides Bollywood, Riteish has also branched out in Marathi cinema as an actor and as a producer. He has produced "Balak-Palak", "Yellow" and "Lai Bhaari" in which he also acted. He is currently developing a film on Chhatrapati Shivaji's life. "Right now we are in the pre-production stage. After finishing this, we will get into casting. We aim to do the film with utmost honesty and integrity."