In a year’s time, life turned around for Rumi Khan. The flirtatious Bakhtawar of Ek Veer Ki Ardaas…Veera and the self-centered Nirbhay of Uttaran fame made it to the silver screen with his debut in Suneel Darshan’s latest release Karle Pyar Karle. Yet again donning a negative avatar but for Bollywood, Rumi Khan ruminates over his acting journey while talking about his character in the recently released film.

“I had to gain a lot of weight to portray DG’s character in Karle Pyar Karle. It’s a larger-than-life role of a hoodlum-cum-business tycoon,” says Rumi, adding almost as an afterthought, “I did hesitate a bit because it was my first appearance in a film and I had to depict a father’s role. But I know, the strength of an actor lies in his potential to portray every type of character.”

From a hardcore Punjabi to a UPwallah, Rumi takes pride in performing different roles on television. “When they used to give me those really long Punjabi dialogues for my role in Veera, I used to spontaneously reframe them for a better delivery,” says Rumi, humorously adding, “They are right when they say your name has an impact on your life. I love to write for myself. And it’s that hobby that comes to my advantage in reframing these multilingual dialogues.”

Contrasting his stint in cinema to that of television, the Indore-based lad says, “TV serials give you a chance to improve as an actor every single evening when you sit down to watch your day-long efforts. But TV is a fast medium; you have to perform in minutes, unlike films, where a director takes time in explaining your dialogues to you and lets you absorb them before enacting the role.”

Balancing his cinematic experience with television, the actor says, “Rajesh Pandey, the director of the film, spotted me only because of my roles in TV. So, there’s no point in leaving TV for anything.” But he signs off, adding, “I will be working in some south Indian films alongside resuming my role in Veera after a  long gap.”