JOIN USHarshvardhan Rane is best known for his performances in Tollywood films. He rose to fame with his roles in ‘Thakita Thakita’, ‘Prema Ishq Kaadhal’ and ‘Anaamika’. He also acted in the Bollywood film ‘Satra Ko Shaadi’ which was produced by John Abraham. However, his Bollywood debut was with ‘Sanam Teri Kasam’ directed by Vinay and Radhika which was released last year.
If I want to unwind and relax, weekends are the best time for me to do so. It’s almost a tradition for me to head out on my jeep to a forest nearby and camp there during weekends. It doesn’t have to be an unusual place or thrilling activity. If my friends have time, they also join in.
My camping bag and tent are always ready and I also have a kitchen in the jeep! If I don’t see the need to build my tent when I reach the camping location, I just sleep in the jeep. I find it very calming to head out to the wilderness; it’s almost like meditation for me. Thanks to this habit, my jeep has become my weekend partner.
Having said that, it’s not possible to leave everything behind and go camping every week. Some days I decide to stay back home and play ‘PlayStation 4’ with my roommate, Vikram.
He is one of my best buddies and we have a lot of fun together. Playing video games is one of our favourite things to do.
I’m not much of a party person. I prefer more intimate conversations with people. But if I think that I am losing my interpersonal skills, I would probably go to a club and spend a few hours with my friends.
It’s also very rare that I attend house parties.
One of my recent interests is playing table tennis with my apartment friends. Our
friendly matches can make us stay up all night.
I don’t always get weekends off to do what I want to. Of late, I have been busy with some campaigns that I am part of and these have been taking up most of my time. However, Sundays are usually the days I get to relax and unwind. I work out almost every day. I am currently practising a routine called ‘animal workouts’.
The workout literally drains you as you have to use part of your body. It puts a
lot of pressure on the ligaments.
That’s why I need my Sunday off and let my body rest.
Cooking is not my hobby. I am more of a survival cook and not much of an expert. Whenever I go camping, I use my ‘jeep kitchen’ to prepare something. I buy something I see on the way and prepare that when I reach the camping site. I have purchased some delicious vegetables on the way sometimes; we never get such fresh ones in the city.
In the city, I am following a ‘caveman’s diet’ which requires me to eat anything apart from grains. We have a cook at home who prepares interesting dishes or we order in once in a while.
When I am alone at home, I like to watch action films and watch
Netflix. If time permits, I go for vacations as well.
My latest trip was to Istanbul which was a lot of fun. Vikram and I travelled throughout the city in all kinds of transport — bullet train, tubes, a ferry — you name it, we used it! I prefer being spontaneous with my plans and not think too much about the itinerary. I think that’s what made this vacation a rather special one.
If I were given a choice, my choice of a perfect weekend would be one with my tent, jeep, some food and water and beautiful scenery in front of me.
But I guess I don’t have much to complain as we can make every weekend we want a perfect one if we make up our minds.”
(As told to Anila Kurian)