Riteish Deshmukh?s remarkable portrayal of a dark character in ‘Ek Villain’ has been lauded by the audience. His debut as an actor in the Marathi flick, Lai Bhari is also bringing in accolades. As far as his career is concerned, the actor is in a fine space. And, in his personal life, the actor is thrilled about becoming a dad soon:

Humshakals, Ek Villain and now Lai Bhari in which you make your acting debut in Marathi cinema. Three films within a span of a month. Would you call that destiny?

Destiny is timing. And the only thing that can get you there is hard work. Ideally, I wanted a gap of one month between Humshakals and Ek Villain, but that couldn?t happen and the films released within a month. All three have a different feel and look. As an actor I am really excited.

After Housefull 2, Grand Masti and now it?s Ek Villain that has touched the Rs. 100 crore mark.

It?s always a great feeling when your film touches that Rs.100 crore mark. I am absolutely thrilled that people have reacted so well to all these films and gone in large numbers to the theatres

You are extremely adept at comedy. How was it switching over to play a dark character like Rakesh Mahadkar in Ek Villain?

Switching from comedy to playing an evil character was not easy especially since it was the first time I was attempting such a part. What was exciting was that the writers of the film and director Mohit Suri felt that I could carry off this role. It is a different character and they wanted some odd casting. The publicity was done smartly and the responses I have got for the film have been extremely encouraging, especially since the comic caper Humshakals released almost simultaneously. That the two characters did not clash was a huge battle for me as an actor.

As an actor which was easier to pull off?

Nothing was easy. Pulling off Humshakals was more difficult than Ek Villain because it was physically very challenging, especially when I had to play a feminine character. There are two ways for a male actor to act as a female. One, where the audience can make out that a male is doing the role of a female and the other? the way I approach it; I should look like a female. This means physically toning down the negatives like broad shoulders and muscles. I achieved this in my earlier film, Apna Sapna Money Money where most of the time I was covered. But in Humshakals I had to get into a bikini and I had to hide so many things (laughs). It was a very brave thing to do.

On the other hand, Ek Villain was mentally stressful and hard, because there were a lot of sub-texts and layers.

How did your wife, Genelia react to your character in Ek Villain?

I remember when I saw Mohit?s Murder 2, I told Genelia that if I had been offered the role of a villain in the film, I would have done it. She would also often tell me that if I ever get a negative role I should do it..