Ronit Roy, known for his roles in the film Udaan and TV shows Swaran Ghar and Adaalat recently came to Lucknow to attend the ET Leadership Excellence Awards, 2024. He sat down with us for a chat where he revealed why he took a break from social media and what’s keeping him away from doing television.

Ronit recently posted a cryptic note on social media about needing to heal, which he later deleted.

Discussing this, he shared, “I put that post because everybody needs periodic healing, especially artists. Artists have heightened emotions, and sometimes it gets overwhelming. Social media can be toxic, and sometimes I need a break from it to focus on my family and personal life.”

Mostly seen wearing either white or black outfits, we quizzed Ronit about it. “I wear only white shirts and white t-shirts. It’s like the Steve Jobs angle. I don’t want to spend half my time thinking about what to wear. It’s about simplifying my life. I have a lot of clothes, but I don’t wear them anymore. Slowly, I have already emptied about 20% of my closet, including shoes and other things and accessories. I’m donating them. Even after emptying 20% of my closet, I still don’t have space to stand in it, it’s that packed. Now, whenever I am shooting and I see that they are buying new clothes for the shoot, I tell them that please take it from me and return them to me later. In the end, a green suit is a green suit, why buy a new one for a shoot.”

When asked about returning to television, Ronit said “Television doesn’t know how to slot me right now. But if something like Adalat comes up, it would be interesting. A lot of my fans ask me to bring back the series. Even if not the same series, long time back I told the network to bring a 2025 version of Adalat. If something like that comes up I would love to do but for me to take a long-running television is not possible now. I think the time has come for finite series on television. We are ready for seasons ranging between 50 to 90 episodes. This change could bring new pathways for actors.”

A picture of Ronit Roy with Sridevi, Mohnish Behl, Sudesh Berry, Harish, and Ravi Kishan, took rounds on social media. Having seen it himself, Ronit told us that the picture was from the movie Army. 

Reminiscing about that moment which he calls special, Ronit says, “We were shooting near Mysore at a beautiful but steep waterfall location. Like many waterfalls, a viewing area was accessible by a long flight of about a hundred steps. We had a long day of shooting and finally called it a wrap in the evening. As everyone started to pack up and head back, we began to climb up the steps. I was just ahead of Sridevi ji. Suddenly, in her soft, graceful voice she called out to me, ‘Ronit, can you hold my hand?’ I turned around and saw her standing there. Without hesitation, I held her and helped her up the steps. It was a treasured moment for me that I got to help her.”

Actor-MP Ravi Kishan recently revealed that he did not find easy acceptance in the Hindi film industry — which was what nudged him towards Bhojpuri films. He says, “I was there, thinking that one fine day my sunrise will also come. In the 1990s, Akshay Kumar and all these friends of ours had come (sic). I am from the ’90s lot too. I thought, I am also six feet tall, I have a good voice, a body, but I didn’t get work. I did Army (1996) and Tere Naam (2003)... in addition to several films with Mithun Chakraborty, Dharmendra, but I was not getting a hit.”

However, talking to Brut India, he says he didn’t let himself get bogged down: “One fine day, I realized… And in anger and hurt, started my own industry, the Bhojpuri industry. I made myself a superstar there. The country’s audience supported me. And today, one lakh people have found employment in that industry.”

He reveals, “I got Rs. 75,000 for a film, out of which Rs. 25,000 I put in action. Whatever I learned from the Hindi film industry, all that training and thought I put into that (the Bhojpuri industry). So people thought that they have got a young hero of their own.”