He says, “Too much also bores people. And I’m beyond talking about what music plays in my car and what my favourite dish is.” Aladin is the first title role in his career. Is he feeling the pressure? “If I was alone in the film, probably. But there’s Mr Bachchan and Sanjay Dutt with me. I’ve never looked at any film as pressure. So, I’m never too excited or too dejected by the fate of a film. I’m not indifferent, but I’ve prepared myself like this since childhood,” he states.

His last hit was Dhamaal (2007). Were the slew of flops in between wrong choices? “I stand by films that don’t work. Sometimes, films don’t turn out the way you want them to; sometimes, they turn out exactly the way you wanted them to be, yet they flop. But I won’t run away from a film that doesn’t work,” he maintains.
He’s only done multi-starrers till now, and doesn’t mind them. Is he not ambitious enough?

Ritesh Deshmukh has worked his way up slowly from a five-hero film, to four, three, two and now as a solo hero. He has impressed everyone with his comic timing and hopes to continue to do so with a fantasy (Aladin), a serious film (Rann) and a romance (Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai)

What gives you a high? When a family member wins an election or when you have a film doing well?

Undoubtedly, when a family member wins an election. That’s because much more is at stake in politics and it’s a once-in-a-five-year event. As an actor, you get three to four chances a year, but in politics you have to wait for five years for another chance.

If you had three wishes, what would they be?

If I have a lamp that Amitabh Bachchan comes out of as a genie, I don’t think I want anything else. That itself is worth three wishes.

After a string of multi-starrer comedies, like Masti, Kya Kool Hain Hum and Dhamaal, Riteish Deshmukh has found himself a niche in the genre. He’s currently awaiting his next release, ‘Do Knot Disturb’, which he believes is going to be an absolute laugh riot. “David Dhawan is the biggest director I have worked with until now. It was an amazing experience on the sets everyday. When you have the duo of David and Govinda, everyone knows that a super comedy is on the charts.”

Do Knot Disturb’ will see Dhawan and Govinda come back together after two years — their last was Partner in 2007. “Everybody knows that both of them work great together.

The best part is that even though they are such great friends, not once did they make me or other actors feel left out,” Deshmukh admits.

The topic for this Sunday episode of Star Plus; popular chat show Tere Mere Baech Mein is Socha Na Tha. All the three guests who came on the show hosted by Farah Khan are Ritesh Deshmukh, Vivek Oberoi and Sreesanth were chosen as all the three had committed mistakes which they never thought would have such a huge impact in their lives and would create some major controversies.

ritesh-deshmukhNovember 30, 2008 is a day Ritesh Deshmukh would want to erase from his memory. On the unfortunate turn of events, he says, “I was going on a shoot and Ramuji (Ram Gopal Verma) was supposed to come with me and we were to drive together. My father was going for a check up, so we all were in the same car, however since my father was the CM, he wanted to go and assess the situation at the Taj ordeal site. To my knowledge, the police had assured that it was all clear at the site and they had collected all the required evidences.”

Bollywood actor Riteish Deshmukh’s humorous streak has often been compared to comedy king Govinda, but the young actor says “there can only be one Govinda” in the industry.

I have often been compared to Govinda. One needs to understand it’s one of the biggest compliments anyone can ever give me. But there can only be one Govinda,” Riteish told IANS in an interview.

“He is among the best talent we have (in Bollywood). And if everyone thinks that I am close to his style and look like I belong to the same kind of comedy, I am extremely happy,” he added.

The two actors have teamed up for the first time for David Dhawan’s comedy “Do Knot Disturb”, which also stars former beauty queens Sushmita Sen and Lara Dutta.

Riteish says he has a lot to learn from Govinda.

Has shooting for Rann revealed anything new about the Indian media?

There wasn’t anything shockingly new for me. The film is part fiction.Corruption exists in almost all spheres of life and the media is no exception. Rann is all about the battle to be in the top slot. Be it sports, politics, the corporate world or the media, competition often breeds cruelty. How many times have we heard of what cricketers do to get a berth in the team, how tough companies get to bag a contract or what top leaders do to get a Parliament ticket? It’s a war right upto the end.

It's been five years. From "Chief Minister's son," he is now known as someone who has gained a foothold for himself in movie town. Known for his down to earth nature and his comic timing, here is Riteish Deshmukh in review mode with Vajir Singh.

Excerpts from our conversation:

Do you know that you're known as the nice guy of the industry?

(Smiles) See, I'm not into any camp and also don't believe in it. I'm friendly with everyone as they are with me. Everyone here has been gracious enough to accept me as an actor and their friend. I feel good about it. I've always believed in giving before expecting. If I give respect to others, only then will they respect me.