Dino Morea has decided to not settle for mediocre Hindi outings. In fact, he is looking forward to his upcoming Telugu and Malayalam projects. While it’s not like he doesn’t want to take on Hindi offers anymore, the nature of the roles matters.

Referring to the last few Hindi offers that he turned down, Morea says, “The characters offered to me were inconsequential. I didn’t do anything in those characters. I am not saying, ‘Give me the main character’. All I am asking for is something good.”

The actor garnered praise for his web debut, The Empire (2021), in which he played the role of Shaibani Khan. “I felt confident about myself after doing the show. The way fans received the show and my performance was warming. I won an award for it as well,” Morea says.

The actor admits saying “no to all of them (Hindi offers) from 2012 to 2016”. The 47-year-old explains, “Had I done the films that were offered to me, it would have been like digging my own grave. I guess everyone gets their time, and for me, I am hoping that time is now.”

Ask why he didn’t take on any Malayalam and Telugu films earlier and Morea replies, “I was not putting it out there that I wanted to go and act in South films. There was anyway nothing great coming my way in Hindi. So, I started exploring. Filmmakers here, in Hindi (cinema), buy rights of films from the South. Films in languages from the South are dubbed in different languages and watched all over India. There must be something right there. So, I thought why not explore that. I am expanding my audience (base) with these two industries (Telugu and Malayalam). They make huge films.”