Ronyraj’s favourite actor is Hrithik Roshan. Hrithik is the one who encouraged Rony to try his hand at cinema. “Early years of my childhood were spent at Fort Kochi. At that time, Western songs were in vogue there. People loved Bollywood films and songs too, but actors were categorised based on the kind of roles they did. For instance, Shahrukh Khan was synonymous with romance, while Akshay Kumar symbolised action. It was then Hrithik came on board through Kaho Na Pyaar Hai. For me, he was hero material because he had a good physique, style and dancing skills,” recalls Rony of those days that led him to theatre.
“I began acting at the age of nine with theatre. I had participated in youth fests at the state level and won prizes,” says Rony, who was even deemed the best actor. The passion grew with him. In college, he did street plays. After college, he joined the Surya music channel as a host hoping it would turn out to be a launchpad for him. “But soon I realised I need to leave my comfort zone and work hard to achieve my dream,” says Rony, who then left the job to attend auditions.
It was such an audition that brought him this opportunity. The only difference was that the audition was for another movie. “That movie didn’t work out but the cameraman liked me. He gave me his contact number and I was in touch with him. I would send him photos, and one day, he asked me to meet a director (Shyam Lenin) in Paravur. The director liked me, gave a brief about the character and the project was on,” says Rony, who debuts with the film Pettilambatra, directed by Shyam. The meeting was in January. Shooting began in February and the movie hit the theatres on June 29.
The movie narrates the story of four friends. Rony is one of them. “Till this point, it has been a journey of struggle and luck,” he says. “The story is set against a village backdrop. My character’s name is Swami, who sports a different look, compared to the rest. He has no job and roams around with his friends and partners in their businesses,” he adds. It has been a memorable journey for him. Ask him about his future plans, pat comes the reply, “Cinema. I am going to focus only on cinema,” he signs off.
