was in city to inaugurate RTMNU’s Nagpur Film Festival n Staff Reporter “Life imitates art, and the art we create is shaped by the experiences we consume,” said Bollywood actor Randeep Hooda during the inauguration ceremony of Nagpur Chalachitra Foundation and Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University’s second edition of Nagpur Film Festival on Saturday evening. “The films people engage with gradually become a part of their reality. They influence their perspectives and the kind of stories they go on to tell,” the actor explained. In that sense, he added, the responsibility of consuming meaningful cinema is as significant as creating it.

 

  Adv Ashish Jaiswal, Minister of State; Anant Vijay, journalist, columnist, and writer; Atul Gangwar, Secretary, Bharatiya Chitra Sadhna; Dr Vijay Khandal, Director-Incharge of Students’ Development Division; and Ajay Rajkarne, Director, Nagpur Chalchitra Foundation, were prominently present on the occasion. On choosing stories, roles Hooda shared that he had initially turned down ‘Swatantraveer Savarkar’, doubting whether, as someone from Haryana, he could do justice to the role. “However, I happened to pick up a biography of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar by Vikram Sampath at an airport, and it altered my perspective. Reading about Savarkar’s life, left me unsettled by how limited the awareness of the revolutionary remains outside Maharashtra, ultimately making me reconsider the project.” Regional representation When asked about the possibility of working in a film set in Vidarbha, Hooda expressed openness to the idea but also said, authentic representation should be prioritised. He suggested that actors from the region should ideally be given priority to preserve the authenticity of the setting, and to give more multi-dimensional representation to the region.

 

He encouraged the audience to be conscious of the kind of cinema they consume and create, saying that meaningful storytelling begins with thoughtful observation. Crafting a character Speaking about his process as an actor, he remarked, “A large part of embodying a character begins with external transformation, costume and appearance, while the rest is built through research, reading, and performance. My strongest performances often emerge toward the end of a shoot, once I have spent enough time inhabiting the character’s world.” Hooda also addressed the purpose of cinema, saying, “Films need not always be didactic. Entertainment is the primary function of a movie, though this does not absolve film-makers of responsibility,” he warned, and underlined the importance of being mindful of diverse audiences, particularly families and younger viewers, while making movies. The interaction remained lively and enthusiastic, and attendees responded enthusiastically to his insights.