Mall promotion of films is not necessary: Paresh Rawal

Seasoned actor Paresh Rawal, whose Oh My God releases this week, believes in effective, not excessive, promotion of his films and says that just going to malls and "raising hands like a stupid guy" is no guarantee of box-office success.

"Promotion is necessary and it has to be done," Paresh told IANS in an interview. "I am not shying away from promotion, but going to cities and malls and raising your hands like a stupid guy is not required.The crowd over there does not necessarily translate into a box-office sale. Rather go and bombard TV or the print media (with interviews)," he added.

The 62-year-old is currently promoting Oh My God, which is based on his Gujarati play Kanji Virrudh Kanji and features him as an atheist.

Directed by Umesh Shukla, the film, coming out Sep 28, also stars Akshay Kumar in a cameo.

For Paresh, Oh My God is like a golden opportunity to provide an alternate interpretation of Kanji Virrudh Kanji.

"Play is a medium of word and film is a medium of picture. So while converting into screenplay, you go out, see many locales. It is a golden opportunity to have a different set of interpretations and a new meaning of the play," he said.

Akshay plays Lord Krishna in the film.

"He has some kind of glint in his eyes, he is a good looking guy. He has got some maturity over the years. So this is why we went for him," he said.

A veteran in theatre, Paresh has been part of many Gujarati plays such as Dear Father, Vairee and Maharathi.

"I think having a theatre background is vital, necessary and is of utmost importance (for a film actor)," he said.

Known for his comic roles in films like Hera Pheri and Garam Masala, the actor has given serious performances in Tamanna and Sardar.

But it is light-hearted characters that stay with audiences, he feels.

"I have done Mumbai Meri Jaan, Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!; they are not comedy. But those roles didn't stick with people. Comedy films run, even though some of them are bad films. So people see these more."

The actor is already mulling a sequel to Oh My God.

"We are just toying with the idea of the sequel; it is not really finalised. We have things lined up. But let's see how it develops," he said.

He has two more projects lined up for the next year, but said that it is too early to talk about them at the moment.