'Money can't change my mind'

rHe is still a hottie among women who continue to swoon over him wherever he goes. Ask model and actor Raghu Mukherjee how he handles all the women who go ‘ooh and aah’ every time they see him and he says, “I really love all the attention I get from women.”
After a long time, Raghu walked the ramp at a fashion show in the City recently. He says that he surely misses the ramp but now, acting is his priority.

Raghu has it going really well for him in the Kannada film industry. “A lot of people wonder whether I can speak Kannada and whether I understand the language. My surname has misled a lot of people but when I start speaking in Kannada, they are amazed. I am a Bangalorean, I grew up here and Kannada films will always be my first priority,” says Raghu.

After his role in Savaari, he was offered a couple of films but he is keen on doing an action film. “I wouldn’t mind undergoing special training for the film. I don’t want to do mundane action sequences like blowing up cars or shedding blood. It would be nice to replicate some international stunts,” reasons Raghu. He thinks it’s Savaari that got him recognition. It’s after this film that he has been getting offers, mostly as a romantic hero. But Raghu doesn’t see that as a disadvantage. “I am not ready to settle in for a light movie yet. I might be doing a lot of romantic films but all of them are performance-oriented subjects,” he points out.

Raghu has signed up a huge project. He has bagged a substantial role in a new Kannada film titled Dandupalya. The story has been woven around the ‘Dandupalya gang.’ “I’ve done a lot of homework for this film. The script portrays the crimes committed by this gang. They went on a killing spree. And what’s nice is that I have strayed away from my usual romantic characters and will be seen doing some hardcore action sequences,” explains Raghu.

Raghu thinks his biggest strength is to be able to say ‘no’ to something he’s not comfortable doing and he makes sure he concentrates only on one film at a time. He doesn’t believe in doing films just for commercial success. “I want people to remember me for the roles I do. I would like to do realistic films rather than portray a larger-than-life character.

I also believe that I am a director’s actor because a director knows best how a character should be projected,” he adds.  And Raghu reasons that for him, building a good career in the film industry matters more than money. “People may say make the money while you can. But money can’t change my mind. I have to really like something to be able to do it,” he wraps up.