The South Indian connect with Mukesh Rishi

Bollywood and Tollywood actor Mukesh Rishi is known for his stimulating performances both in negative and character roles. With a wide repertoire of essaying different characters in Hindi and Telugu films, I felt very little is known about this gun-wielding, anger-spewing actor and by inviting him for dinner I wished to learn more about the man who has earned accolades and co-starred with greats from the south movies like Chiranjeevi, Nagarjuna and Mahesh Babu. I selected La Tiara, the swish all-day dining restaurant of Hotel Meluha The Fern, located in Hiranandani Gardens, Powai, and the very place where Mukesh resides. Just 5 minutes from his home, the actor walked in looking every bit the tough guy, in a tight fitting tee, that he portrays but knowing him on the personal front as a soft-spoken gentleman with impeccable manners, I was at ease while welcoming him along with Ramesh Gupta, the F & B Manager of the hotel. After zeroing in on a quiet corner, as the restaurant was packed, we were shown around the buffet spread which consists of a choice of Asian, Continental and Indian fare, we went with the flow – the live station puts up some very interesting appetizers like Murgh Tikka Hasnu, Chicken Olivetti, tangy Fish Tikka Achari, crunchy Fish Tempura, Podi Idli, Stir Fry Veg and Sechuan Vegetable. Skipping salads, it is the mains for us. Few readers would know that the actor comes from a business (stone quarrying) family in Jammu, after completing graduation in Chandigarh he ventured into his family business but found his calling to be elsewhere. Leaving India, Mukesh took up modeling in New Zealand and after nearly seven years, he decided to come back to his homeland but this time to join business. He enrolled himself into Roshan Taneja’s acting school in Mumbai and his first acting assignment came from Telugu filmdom. Gradually his acting prowess came to be noticed in Bollywood and offers started pouring in. Most remembered for his watershed performance in Sarfarosh, Mukesh reckons it as a milestone in his career. Gardish, Indian, Ghatak and Run followed while the brawny and rustic star kept himself busy with south films as well. Though he can understand the language by now, dubbing is resorted to in order to keep up with the authenticity of Telugu dialect and accent. For a health conscious person, Mukesh is very practical as he says, “I don’t believe in gymming per se.” Running, exercising while working is all part of the day for him and he believes in eating nutritious and natural food, albeit with me at La Tiara, he was kind enough to indulge in tasting the scrumptious delicacies at the buffet like Gosht Nilgiri Korma, Tariwala Murgh, Palak Paneer, Ghatte ke Shaak with flaky Lachcha parathas and Lemon Rice. Though the Asian fare of Chicken with ginger sauce, Thai curry, Manchurian and Noodles in hunan sauce were tempting enough, we skipped them giving in to the actor’s disciplined regimen of not overeating. I ask him about the difference in acting discipline between south and Hindi films and he reveals, “Down South, there is more stress on punctuality, movies get completed fast.” As for him finding a foothold as an established actor there, he attributes it to ‘that something’ in him which works in the south film industry. As for outings with his family, he prefers to stay at home whenever he is in Mumbai and opts to take them out to restaurants in Hiranandani itself. Mukesh’s stress buster is being with nature or even just looking out of the window into the beautiful hills beyond his high rise apartment are enjoyable to this gentle soul. From an array of never-ending sweets from the dessert counter, Tiramisu, Madhurmilan, Angoori Rabdi, Chandrakala and Chamcham were some of the items we literally just tasted and I found an amazingly charming finale after an invigorating conversation with the realistic and grounded actor.