The Dark Horse

It is all Johnny Walker’s fault. And the Rain God’s. Why else do I find myself on a windy, rainy evening (twilight, actually) inside a horse’s paddock, trying to engage Randeep Hooda in conversation, while he raves on about how adorable this four-legged winner really is?

Well, there is always a first time for everything, but this is not what I have bargained for. And I’m not just talking about the five (yes, five) champion horses that I have to vie with for Hooda’s attention. And they of course, have a rather unfair advantage, having been responsible for Hooda’s best performance ever at the National Equestrian Championship that began on March 11 at Delhi.

And, watching Highway does not prepare me for this suave, articulate, Greek-God-looking dude with the aquiline nose – totally Marlboro-Man-esque. (He loves the iconic cowboy flick The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, right? He’d give Clint Eastwood a run for his money!) The only saving grace for me is that AR Rahman did not recognise him at the film’s premiere either. Whew.

But now, back to Johnny Walker, who is getting all the attention for being responsible for Hooda winning two golds that morning. His dependable Man Friday rushes across to show the medals to me, which he has collected for Hooda at the award ceremony, since his master was at a shoot. Incidentally, the three-day event has resulted in Hooda juggling Show Jumping and Dressage practice (from 4 am), the actual Championship and shooting in Chandni Chowk for Sajid Nadiadwala’s directorial debut Kick which stars Salman Khan.

“Care to share a beer,” he asks, graciously. He is celebrating. I am tempted, but reality kicks in – the next day’s 8.30 am meeting. So we have sweet masala tea instead. Which, given the weather, hits the spot.

While Hooda reassures me that Johnny Walker is the friendliest horse ever, I am a bit apprehensive about having straw being eaten out of my designer handbag and continuing a normal conversation with this huge fellow nuzzling my notebook. By which time the rain and wind has turned into a full-fledged gale. Ah well.

It is more than obvious that Hooda loves animals and thrives on the time spent with them. There is a dog that he picked up five years ago at an airport that seems to have taken over his life too. “My nana used to ride,” he reminisces. “In boarding school, I moved from swimming to riding.”

He also seems to have moved eons away from openly talking about his love interest and being labelled as one with the ‘attitude’. So, now, there is no way I can get him to speak of anyone special in his life; I try. “I was tagged as Sushmita’s (Sen) boyfriend. I was okay with it at the time, but my own identity almost got lost.”

And he frankly admits to his days of ‘attitude’ as just bad behaviour. “One does not have to behave like a cad to be a star.” Finally, his days in Australia proved to be his ‘Life Education’. “Being a taxi-driver for three years really gave me insights into human behaviour. People don’t even notice you are there.”

He now lets his work do the talking. “I want to be a star,” he says reflectively, as he supervises the horse hands cover the horses with blankets. “I’m getting there, I think. I am working hard to get back on track – 24 x 7. After all, I am an actor before all else.” Highway has helped big time. Even though he now says that he’ll never do another film like that. “I got so involved. I went into a shell. I did not realise what the role would entail when I read the script. I got so into the character, more so because it was shot in one schedule. I did not even talk to Alia (Bhatt) for the first 25 days of the shoot.”

The director, Imtiaz Ali, heard him howling one night and came across to talk him out of the depression he had got into. “Imtiaz had only seen Monsoon Wedding and Waiting for Godot, probably. And he cast me. As for Mira Nair, what do I say? She gave me my first big break. She messaged me about my ‘stupendous’ performance in Highway. Coming from her, you can imagine how much it meant to me,” he says, as he gesticulates with a ‘Hats off’.