The excitement is palpable in Manit Joura’s voice when he begins talking about Bejoy Nambiar's much-awaited Tamil-Malayalam bilingual ‘Solo’. The film starring Dulquer Salmaan marks the Hindi actor’s debut in South Indian cinema. Manit plays Alok, a National-level boxer-turned ACP (Assistant Commissioner of Police) and features in a love triangle with Dulquer Salman and Neha Sharma in ‘World of Rudra’, one of the four stories in the anthology film.
"It’s a beautiful feeling to work with Bejoy twice," exclaims Manit, who made his Bollywood debut in the 2010 Ranveer Singh-Anushka Sharma hit ‘Band Baaja Baaraat'. He was previously part of Bejoy Nambiar’s television series 'MTV Rush' in 2012. He says, “It was like coming back home - that’s the kind of association I have with him. The man’s enthusiasm, innocence, honesty, technical knowledge… I love it. On the last day, he was jumping like a kid after wrapping up the shoot, while handling 300-odd people on the set at the same time. He is definitely a genius director and one of my favourites.”
He elaborates: “Bejoy narrates to me how the character should behave. I understand what he wants, he knows what I’m capable of, and I perform accordingly. Then, on set, he’ll stop me, ask me to do something more, something different. Later, when I see myself in that scene, I am wonderstruck: How did I do that?”
Manit is all praise for the filmmakers he’s worked with, particularly, Nagesh Kukunoor (who directed him in the web series ‘The Test Case’), Maneesh Sharma (director of ‘Band Baaja Baaraat’) and Michael Karen, director of his German film ‘The Girl with the Indian Emerald', where he played a royal guard "... similar to Amitabh Bachchan's role in 'Eklavya: The Royal Guard". “All these creative, energetic professionals are extremely dedicated to their vision and they have their own USPs. They guide you well but also give you enough freedom to improvise.”
“Dulquer Salmaan is magical”, Manit says, admitting he’s never watched any of the Malayalam actor’s films. The two co-stars bonded over their love for motorcycles. He adds, “It was great discovering that we both owned the same bike - the BMW Motorrad. Also, we love riding motorcycles for the same reason - for that feeling of freedom you get. I hope we get to ride together someday.”
With ‘Solo’, Manit makes his debut in not one, but two South Indian languages. Says Manit, “There’s nothing more special for an actor than to get a chance to be a part of the Tamil and Malayalam film industries which are renowned for their technicians and the kind of stories they tell. I’d love to act in more films here.” Describing his dubbing experience for the bilingual, where each scene was shot simultaneously in Malayalam and Tamil, he says, “Initially, I was asked to deliver my lines in English. I thought saying them in the languages would be more authentic. When they couldn’t find anybody suitable to dub for me, I decided to give it a shot. With the help of a studio assistant in Bombay, I dubbed for both languages in a night.”
Recollecting his journey in the industry, Manit Joura says, “I starred in many ads after winning Best Photogenic Model at the Gladrags Mega Model Manhunt in 2008. I got a high because I was earning well and received a lot of attention. Basically, I followed the ‘aap model ban jao toh aap actor ban jaaoge’(become a model to become an actor) route, though the two are very different from each other.” A year later, he realised his heart wasn’t in modelling and wanted to challenge himself, as ‘good looks alone won’t sustain you for long’ and learnt acting at a film school, where he got to train with the best of the faculty. “I don’t want to be a star, I am an actor, he states.
Manit Joura, who is currently seen as businessman Rishabh Luthra in Ekta Kapoor’s popular soap ‘Kundali Bhagya’ on Zee TV, is a well-known face in Hindi television. Says Manit,” I absolutely enjoy working in TV. Film is a medium bound by the script whereas TV offers more scope for actors to experiment.” He was also recently nominated in three categories at the Indian Television Academy Awards (ITA) 2017.
He has not slept for more than three hours each in the last 40 days but the actor’s commitment to his craft is evident when he says, “ I love to work day in and day out.” Manit hopes he continues to get such diverse roles and collaborate with the country’s best directors, in both TV and film. The best of both worlds, as he says with a laugh.
Solo tells the story of four different characters (all played by Dulquer Salmaan), each story revolving around four elements: Earth (Rudra), Fire (Siva), Water (Shekhar) and Wind (Trilok). The film, which also stars actors Renji Panicker, Manoj K Jayan, Soubin Shahir, Suhasini Mani Ratnam, Nasser, Deepti Sati, Dino Morea, Ann Augustine, Arthi Venkatesh, Govind Menon, Siddharth Menon, Sai Tamhankar, Sruthi Hariharan, Dhansika and John Vijay, is slated for release on October 5.