He adds, “He was talking about life in general, but the words were so profound that they are totally applicable in my professional life as well, and these words have to be the best advice I have ever received.”
However, he also has a professional definition of success that he hopes to achieve. “Strictly professionally, I will have found success the day I become big enough to choose roles according to my discretion and still have plenty of projects to work on. Lastly, I do have a material definition of success and want to achieve it, but I won’t talk about it as I know that it will keep changing as I keep growing in my career,” Rohin says.
Talking about one of the common misconceptions surrounding actors, Rohin says people often assume that performers are similar to the characters they portray. “That we actors are similar to the characters that we are playing. Yes, some physical or behavioural traits do match, but in most cases, we are diametrically opposite to the characters we are portraying,” he explains.
Working with experienced actors has also given Rohin an opportunity to observe the industry from a different perspective. “The most fun part is listening to stories of their previous shows and getting to know how the industry used to function back in the day, but the greatest lesson I have learned by observing them work is that no matter how experienced or successful you become as an actor, your humility and honesty will always be paramount,” he says.
When it comes to competition, Rohin prefers to look at auditions as the only space where he competes with other actors. “My competition with other actors is limited to the audition process. And getting selected through an audition completely depends on the vision of the decision makers and on your performance, and because I can only control the latter, I just focus on bringing my A game to the audition room,” he shares.
Once he gets a role, however, Rohin doesn’t see his co-actors as rivals. “I don’t see any of my co-actors as rivals when I get selected, as I think I can perform better if I work with them as a collaborator rather than being their competitor,” he adds.
Rohin also recalls a period of self-doubt during the beginning of his television journey. “A lot of times. The biggest one was during the initial days of the shoot as I didn’t perform well and we had to reshoot my first two scenes. I had never been on a TV set, and that too with so many unknown people. I knew that I was selected based on my audition but the set atmosphere made me extremely nervous and I started doubting myself,” he recalls.
He credits his director Ankur sir and his previous co-star Srishti Jain for being his biggest external support during that phase. “My director Ankur sir and my previous co-star Srishti Jain were the biggest external supports, and my belief that if I could perform well in the audition, then it was just a matter of me getting comfortable on the set, was all I needed to overcome it,” Rohin says.
One of his proudest moments came from a scene that required him to react without dialogue. “There was a scene where my character realises that his wife, who according to him was the very definition of honesty, has lied to him and has stolen money from the house. The character goes into shock and is completely dazed without any dialogues, while all the drama is unfolding around him,” he explains.
Interestingly, Rohin says he didn’t even know that his reactions were being captured during the scene. “While performing, I had no idea that our DOP, Bhavesh sir, who was operating the portable jib, would capture my reactions. After calling cut, my director praised me on the mic and a lot of other people appreciated the performance. The external validation helped immensely but the best thing was that I too realised that I performed that scene with a lot of honesty,” he shares.
Although only a small portion of those reactions eventually made it into the final cut, Rohin says the experience remained meaningful for him.
He also identifies a technical gap as one of the mistakes that taught him the most. “Not being aware of the technical aspects of camera acting, and taking more takes just because I wasn’t technically sound,” he says.
Explaining the difference between stage or audition acting and performing for the camera, Rohin adds, “The freedom one has on the stage or while recording auditions using a handheld camera is very different. The loudness of the gestures, the intensity of the dialogues, the movement and a lot of other things depends on the camera and light setup.”
He believes that honesty is at the heart of acting, but technical knowledge is equally important. “Even though the heart of acting lies in the art of being honest in that moment, the craft is equally important. And because I never went to a film school, I was totally unaware and had to learn all the technicalities on the set. I still struggle with it, but have improved since I started,” Rohin concludes.
