I am working on a spin-off of Swabhimaan, says Rohit Roy

Rohit Roy’s first big hit on the tube was an afternoon show, Swabhimaan in 1995. Helmed by filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, scripted by Shobha De and Vinod Ranganath, the story was about Svetlana, a mistress to business tycoon Keshav Malhotra, who upon his death, has to deal with the personal and professional relationships, inheritance issues and emotional trauma. The show starred Kitu Gidwani, Anju Mahendru, Rohit Roy, Ashutosh Rana, Manoj Bajpayee and Mita Vashisht, among others.

Rohit played Rishabh Malhotra, the angry young son of the tycoon, and gained immense popularity not only for his good looks and dashing avatar on the show but also for his impressive performance. Rohit states that he is humbled that people remember the show and his role even today. And that’s what gave him the idea to revive the show. “Imagine if Rishabh’s son is a spoilt brat like he was in his youth? How would Rishabh deal with a brat in today’s times? It has been playing on my mind. I want to make a spin-off of Swabhimaan. I have had a word with Bhatt saab, Amit Khanna (producer) and Shobha as they have to be on board for this to happen. What we have decided is to have some of the key players and take the story forward with the second generation. It won’t be Swabhimaan 2 but the story will be carried forward from where it ended. We are working on it. In fact, most actors who did the show meet often and keep in touch,” states the actor, adding, “In films, the formula of remaking old hits, sequels, franchises have existed for years, internationally and in India. I am surprised that TV producers took so long to take this route. There are many superb stories that can be remade for today’s audiences. There is a huge recall value of many shows and actors with the audiences.”

Rohit has been starring in a sequel of another popular TV medical drama and admits that he had a fabulous experience playing a negative character that is loved so much. But of late, there were news reports of his exiting the ongoing show. However, Rohit refutes the news. “My character was the villain and after he was exposed in the show, there was no point in hanging around. After the news that Mohnish Bahl quit, the same was assumed the same for me as well. Perhaps, because I thanked fans in an Instagram post, people thought that I was leaving the show. I am not. I will be back soon with a bang. There is a leap in the storyline and my character will re-enter to create drama. Had I hung around, the audiences who love my character would have been bored and I definitely don’t want them to be bored of the role,” he says.

PHOTO: YOGEN SHAH Rohit Roy