Arunoday Singh in Spring’s Hottest

Debutante of the year, natural born schizophrenic from Harlem talks shop, pink Cadillacs, those rascals in the American Homeland Security Department and annoyingly refers to himself in third person. And nothing about his political lineage.

‘Ineffable’ – something so extreme that cannot be described in words. And that’s exactly how the Yeh Saali Zindagi man describes himself. As we dig deeper, we find out more about this man who would play make believe Tarzan but drive a pink car. Re-introducing Arunoday Singh as a whimsical dreamer who can milk a cow with as much ease as driving a SUV.

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You wouldn’t wear pink pants (He had to once for a character in one of his films) but drive a red car. Which one’s the real you?

You took pink pants story out of context. Arunoday would wear pink pants. The character I was playing in that movie wouldn’t have. Big difference. I am not a shy and muted personality. I drive a red car that I love. Were Bombay a cleaner, cooler city to drive around, I’d restore an old ‘64 Cadillac Deville and paint her pink and roll down these city streets, hip hop pounding through my speakers. Arunoday is a deeply curious, insatiably hungry for life, slightly buffoonish, manic lover of whimsy. There are many rather cool men hidden behind the veil of my eyes. Who do you want to meet?

Could you have been a banker? What would he have been if not an actor?

I could never ever ever have been a banker. I’m too free spirited and changeable to be shackled to a routine. I also don’t think I would be able to sustain a solid work performance. I’m manic, with furious stamina for period of time that I then balance out with divine lethargy. A nine to five would destroy me. I would loved to have been a musician, or a journalist writing for Rolling Stones Magazine, or a novelist/poet, or a professional surfer. Or a comic book artist. That would have been supremely cool.

What if you were a woman? How would she be?

That is one very disturbing thought. I’m not evolved enough to imagine myself as a higher being.

Kind of films would you like to make?

Films that touch people deeply. With stories that come from the soul and characters that help me explore the darker, quieter corners of my soul. Watching cinema should be like reading a great novel, not an Archie’s comic.

One role you could’ve killed for?

I tend not to think like that. I believe that the roles I would kill for are coming my way. I truly truly do. I look to the future. The past is done, no point dwelling on things that weren’t meant to be.

Your favourite two lines from a film…

I’ll give you a couple all from the best written film of all time - As Good As It Gets.
- I’m drowning here, and you’re describing the water!
- Carol the waitress, meet Simon the fag.
- People who talk in metaphors, ought to shampoo my crotch.
- Where’d they teach you to talk like that? Some Panama City wanna hump hump bar? Sell crazy someplace else, we’re all stocked up here.

How has Bollywood been so far?

The experience has been an interesting and exhilarating one thus far. Managed to find work worth the doing, people worth the knowing, and women worth the wooing. There are many complaints I have, but those are because my nature is to be constantly looking for improvements. However as things stand I do consider myself very very lucky, indeed.

From NY to Bollywood - how did it happen?

I blame the Department of Homeland Security and luck. I really wish I could have survived in NYC longer but I guess at that point in my life it wasn’t meant to be. Work was scarce, rents were high, and spirits were low. Moving to Bombay was the only way I could keep my dream of becoming a working actor alive without worrying about visas and work permits.

So you grew up on a farm in MP. Tell us bout it.

It was truly magical. We were surrounded by raw nature with no neighbours of any mind that walked on two legs. I grew up half wild and more than half loco. I would head into the woods to fish in rock pools, go crab hunting with my cook, run around pretending to be Mowgli from the Jungle Book with my nutcase dogs as worthy substitutes for a wolf pack. I climbed many trees broke many bones frightened many an adult many a time. I’d have grown up a much different and not so carefree in a city. That farm made me the dreamer I remain to this day.

So what did you like playing with?

Anything and everything. My dogs mostly. I had a very indulgent father, and a very wise mother. So although we were allowed toys, there was always a budget. Except for books. We could buy as many books as we wanted. So everything I played with was directly from something I had read in my rapidly expanding library.

Are you a foodie? Do you cook?

I enjoy good food but I’m not really a foodie. I’m not very self-indulgent. I can subsist on pretty standard fare. Food for me is a biological requirement most times. That being said I’m pretty handy in a kitchen. Although the ladies in my life would laugh and disagree.

How do you like your dinner?

Warm, inviting, and delicious.

Women?

The same way I like my food but with better conversation skills.

Do you dance?

Like Fred Astaire on speed.

Since we are at it, do you sing?

I don’t sing, I croon convincingly.

Will you ever sing for a woman?

I have sung for many women, and made them all smile. Don’t if they were smiling at my Frank Sinatra voice or how amusing it was, but since the point was to make them smile I don’t care how well I sang.

One thing you can never lose...

My sense of whimsy.

So what’s next? Sticking to Bollywood?

Arunoday is sticking to acting wherever the work may come from.

What’s coming up next in terms of films?

There’s a political thriller being directed by Vivek Agnihotri set in the Indian Business School in Hyderabad. Other than that I’m auditioning and looking for work.

3 Tips for men on dating:

1) Don’t try too hard
2) Listen to what she’s saying and respond to her rather than your own ego.
3) Make her smile.

Aisha or Yeh Saali Zindagi?

Yeh Saali Zindagi.

A farm in MP or New York City?

Shuttling between the two would be ideal.

The looks

On the cover: Blue and Red Check Shirt ₹2290; Dark Blue Jeans ₹3990; Watch ₹7295; Jacket ₹5990
Black Shirt ₹2690; Black Jeans ₹3490
Jacket ₹9990; Checkered Shirt ₹2490; Trouser ₹2490
Blue and Red Checkered Shirt ₹2990
Blue and grey T-shirt ₹2290; Grey Jeans ₹3990; Watch ₹7295
Pink Printed T-shirt ₹790; White Linen Trousers ₹3690
White Collared Lavender Shirt ₹2490; Khaki Shorts ₹2490

Photography: Harkiran Uppal; styling: Nischay. Prices indicated are subject to change.