KOCHI: A six-feet two-inch tall Ronith George stooped to greet us. His smile lit up his chiseled features. The bio he hands out says that he is 59 but it does not come as a surprise that he wooed the narcissist Hollywood audience with his impersonation of their all-time favourite muscle man Arnold Schwarzenegger. And they clapped loud every time he came on stage until the semi-finals of this season’s ‘America’s Got Talent’, the most-watched reality show in the United States.
When we met him Ronith, a fitness instructor, was on a holiday from the US where he lives with his family. Still basking in the fame and success that came his way, Ronith is elated that his passion in life has at last found a mooring. “The showbiz has been a craving for me since long. But I never thought I could make it to this show.”
Hailing from Venmani in Pandalam, more a countryside than a town in his days, Ronith migrated to the US after his marriage to Molamma, who was working as a nurse there. “Ever since I went there, I used to hang around in Hollywood on the look out for a possible entry into films. But good ones didn’t come my way. And it was just by chance that I tried my luck in this show,” he says.
In the initial rounds, Ronith enacted roles done by Marlon Brando, Clint Eastwood and Sean Connery. “They went down well with the audience. But my fanfare soared when I came up with Arnold’s act in ‘Terminator’ where he delivers the famed ‘I will be back’ line.” Ronith holds out his arms and posed for us. “When I knew the audience liked it, I added Arnold’s speeches as the Governor of California. He has this habit of craning his jaws while talking. I think people liked it.”
Acting is what Ronith has always wanted to do. Until he planted himself in a foreign country, Ronith’s outings as an organiser of the Children’s Film Society in Mumbai and as a journalist with the Kerala Times were aimed at clearing his way into the film industry. “I was posted as a reporter of the paper in Chennai. And that was my golden chance to make a foray into filmdom’s most happening town. I went about meeting people and my acquaintance with Cochin Haneefa gave me a break. I did the movie ‘Oru Sandeshavum Koodi’ which was Haneefa’s directorial. I had a small part but I shared the screen space with none other than Mammootty,” says a proud Ronith.
Though Haneefa had promised to cast him in his forthcoming films, Ronith’s passport to the US robbed him of the possible chances that might have come his way. “It could have been a bad decision as far as my film aspirations are concerned. But then, the US is where I made my living.”
Ronith sent his daughter Roshi and son Joshi to India after their schooling. “We wanted them to do their higher studies here so that they familiarise themselves with our land and its culture. I am proud that they both speak good Malayalam.”
Each holiday that Ronith takes is loaded with hopes about landing a role in a Malayalam film or a serial. In his brief stay in Kerala, Ronith has managed to do a couple of roles in the miniscreen, including Merryland’s ‘Kudumbavilakku’. He has also made appearances in movies like ‘Sooryavanam’ and ‘Stalin Sivadas’. He has tried his hands on television production and a pilot episode of the serial ‘Detective Victor’ on Surya TV. “Now that I am again on a long vacation, I would like to begin a new innings in the showbiz industry. I am on the look out for a break that would help me decide that it’s time to quit my immigrant life and camp out here to pursue my passion.” Ronith can be contacted at
gkuttickal@hotmail.com.
aswathy@expressbuzz.com
