Exclusive | Rohman Shawl to make his acting debut soon; will play a Kashmiri in his first Hindi film
In an exclusive interview with Hindustan Times, Rohman Shawl talks about his early days, working in his first film directed by Akhil Abrol, his complicated relationship with auditions, and much more.
Rohman Shawl landed on the fashion scene almost a decade ago. In many ways, the Kashmiri model and budding actor has had quite a serendipitous career. At 19, his first commercial dropped on local channels in Dehradun, where he went to college. It just so happened that the experience would lead him to a modelling career. After making a name for himself as a model in Delhi, and walking the ramp for designers like Sabyasachi Mukherjee and Manish Malhotra, Rohman is transitioning into acting. Also read: Rohman Shawl says his celebrity status is unearned
Initially, Rohman, who was born and brought-up in Nainital, was not keen on acting. In fact, he'd only decided to take acting seriously in December last year. “After I got famous, modelling jobs started decreasing and acting jobs started coming my way. I did not want to act, so I kept saying no. The modelling offers did not have enough budget; that’s when I saw a shift within me. I realised I have to change with time. I saw the opportunities coming my way, and that’s why I started looking at acting, and the scripts I could really connect with. As an actor I have to learn a lot, but the only thing I have is that I can be natural in front of the camera,” he said.
Rohman recalls moving to Mumbai in 2017 and trying out for a big-budget movie. While the makers were excited about the prospect of having him play an important role in the film, things went downhill after the audition. “When I came to Mumbai, I was never interested in acting because it was such a tough process. And I thought I could not act. I started with some acting classes. I actually gave an audition for a movie, which I would not name. They selected me and after a month said everything has changed, we are now changing the cast. I did not want to act after that. It was for a very big movie, which is now being released after so many years. That was a big setback for me, and I did not want to give auditions anymore.”
But he is not running away from acting anymore. So, what pushed Rohman to do his first movie, when he had doubts about acting? “It (his upcoming debut film) is a very beautiful story. It is related to Jammu and Kashmir. I play a Kashmiri, and there’s a lot of Kashmiri that I have spoken in the film. Since I have not been to Kashmir a lot, I have lost touch. It was kind of challenging for me (to speak the language fluently). But I had so much fun. The film has been named, but I don’t want to reveal much right now. It could be released on an OTT platform,” Rohman said.
Rohman’s debut Hindi film is directed by Akhil Abrol, who worked as an assistant director in the 2018 Kajol-starrer, Helicopter Eela. A portion of the film has been shot in Bhaderwah in Jammu and Kashmir, Rohman said.
Rohman has another project that is in the post-production stage – My Father’s Doctor, directed by Danish Renzu. “It is a short film. I have a small role in that. It is probably going to go to some film festivals before being released on OTT.” Rohman is hopeful that both his acting projects will be released this year.
He may be playing a Kashmiri in his debut film, but Rohman knows what kind of roles he wants to essay in future. “One thing I know is that romance is my safe space. I know I can do that. I would love to do a beautiful romantic story. But something that would be challenging for me would be comedy, which I really want to do. And I want to play an athlete or do anything related to sports. I know I can be kickass in that,” he said.
Rohman spoke about ‘playing every sport except basketball' and gushed about his father, who played cricket professionally. “If I was not into acting, I would be a cricketer for sure; but I had a back injury in class 12. My father played in the Ranji Trophy (domestic first-class cricket championship) in his time. He played with Kapil Dev once. He was an all-rounder and a fast bowler. I have heard a lot of stories about him being very quick,” he said.
Following his debut film, what does Rohman's future involve? For now, no reality television shows, he said. Rohman admitted to being offered Kangana Ranaut-hosted Lock Upp, and said other reality shows also ‘keep coming’ his way, but he was ‘not in that zone right now’. Rohman said, “I want to give my acting career a chance first. If this doesn’t happen, then I will go to reality shows. I have nothing against reality shows, but right now I am not really looking into it. Acting nahi chali phir mein reality shows ke bare mein sochunga (if acting does not work out, then I will think about reality shows).”
Rohman also clarified that he was never a part of Shilpa Shetty-hosted reality show Hear Me, Love Me (2018), something he keeps reading online. “I did a promo for them (the show); I have never done a reality show. Since I do not speak about myself much, or give interviews, people don’t know,” he said.
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