- Puneet Vashisht played Ronnie, a friend of Shah Rukh Khan's character in the 2000 film Josh
- Vashisht revealed much of his role in Josh was cut due to competition with Shah Rukh Khan's energy
- He described Shah Rukh Khan as a creative, energetic superstar but not necessarily a great actor
One of the most famous supporting roles of Puneet Vashisht was alongside Shah Rukh Khan as Ronnie in Mansoor Khan's 2000 film Josh. Puneet played a member of the Eagle's gang and acted as a friend and sidekick to Shah Rukh Khan's character, Max. He recently opened up about how his role was cut in the film.
In conversation with Ponnam Sachdeva on Dil Se Dil Ki Baatein, Puneet Vashisht said, "Shah Rukh Khan as an actor... as an actor ki aulaad main unko dissect kar sakta hoon. Main unko ek great actor nahi bulaunga, lekin ek creative, energetic superstar bolta hoon. Entertaining banda hai. Yeh jo phase dekha unho ne - yeh energy, creativity - hats off. (Shah Rukh Khan as an actor… as the son of an actor, I can dissect him. I wouldn't call him a great actor, but I would call him a creative, energetic superstar. He's an entertaining man. The phase he went through — that energy, that creativity — hats off.)"
He added, "Tab hi woh outside-insider nepotism itna nahi tha. Yeh toh abhi dekh rahe hain - Ananya Panday, Varun Dhawan, Tiger Shroff - abhi nepotism ki pehri aayi hai. Tab benchmark ban rahe the, nepotism ka beej boya ja raha tha, tab nepotism nahi tha.(Back then, the whole outside–insider nepotism issue wasn't so prevalent. What we're seeing now — with Ananya Panday, Varun Dhawan, Tiger Shroff — is when nepotism has really taken hold. At that time, benchmarks were being set, the seeds of nepotism were being sown, but it wasn't dominant yet.)"
"Josh main kaafi kuch cut kiya. Main ne Shah Rukh bhai ko train kiya hai dance main. Woh mere energy se waakif the. Jab Mansoor Khan aise shot lagate the, SRK apni energy ke liye jaane jaate the. SRK 10-foot ke jump maarte the, main automatically jump maarta tha toh meri 14-foot ki jump hoti thi. Toh mere upar dhyaan ja raha tha, toh mujhe cut kar diya. Main unke jagah hota toh shayad main bhi karta. Par mujhe nahi lagta main waisa hoon. Tab toh ekdum nikal rahe the, toh beech main koi bhi aaye toh cut, cut, cut - halaal karo. Mera bachpana bhi tha. Josh se main ne bahut kuch paaya. Aaj bhi log pyaar karte hain. Main 20 saal ka tha jab Josh kiya tha. Chaar mahine ko hona tha, four and half months lag gaye. Meri immaturity yeh thi ki I focused on what I lost, not what I got. (A lot was cut from Josh. I had trained Shah Rukh bhai in dance, and he was aware of my energy. When Mansoor Khan would set up shots, SRK was known for his energy. He would do a 10-foot jump, and I would automatically jump - mine would be 14 feet. So the focus shifted to me, and I was cut out. If I were in his place, maybe I would have done the same. But I don't think I'm like that. At that time, he was really rising, so if anyone came in between, it was cut, cut, cut - eliminate it. I was immature too. Josh gave me a lot, and even today people love it. I was 20 years old when I did Josh. It was supposed to take four months, but it stretched to four and a half years. My immaturity was that I focused on what I lost, not on what I gained.)"
He continued, "Tab jo woh group ban rahe the, nepotism ke vriksh, woh log nahi chahte the ki yeh energy aaye. Toh woh groups ya lobby ne mujhe bahut avoid kiya. Depression, alcoholism - inn sab mein ghuss gaya. Talent tha, confidence tha, but use nahi ho raha tha, toh yeh sab hota hai. But ab Bhagwan ji ki kripaa hai - process tha. (At that time, the groups forming - the trees of nepotism - didn't want this energy to come in. So those groups or lobbies avoided me a lot. I slipped into depression and alcoholism. I had talent, I had confidence, but it wasn't being used, so these things happened. But now, by God's grace, it was all part of the process.)"
About Puneet Vashisht
Puneet Vashisht has had other memorable roles in films such as Taal (1999), Gayab (2004), Fanaa (2006), and Happy New Year (2014). He is more popularly known for his work on television, where he featured in shows such as Banoo Main Teri Dulhan, Lapataganj, Adaalat, and more recently Shiv Shakti - Tap Tyaag Tandav as Narada. He was also a wild card contestant on Bigg Boss 9 in 2015.
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