Rick Roy has been in the entertainment industry for more than a decade. The designer has styled Bollywood celebrities such as Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor, Emraan Hashmi, Vidya Balan, Sonakshi Sinha, Sonam Kapoor and Malaika Arora. Rick made his acting debut with the web show Dil Dosti Dilemma. In an interaction with Hindustan Times, he speaks about the need for more sensitivity and awareness while portraying queer characters in cinema. 

Rick Roy says acting is an extension of creativity

On being quizzed about what inspired him to pursue acting, Ricky says, “To be very honest, I was actually working as a designer only for the show (Dol Dosti Dilemma). When I went to a meeting with Amazon and they liked the persona which related to the character, till that happened I seriously did not think about it. Once I was offered I realised this is just another creative outlet utilised to do things that I wanted to do and express myself in a different way altogether. Acting is literally an extension of that to me.” He adds, “I did not make a deliberate choice but then I thought the offer was interesting for me to take up. The character made a huge difference because what I or anybody stands for today is all about being inclusive. The director and the team were people I knew whom I could trust to create something which was an interesting story. I really thought that I would enjoy doing it and that's how I took it up.”

Rick Roy feels OTT has educated society on queerness

When asked about certain filmmakers trying to sensationalise films and series on queer characters, the debutant actor points out, “The most important thing is education to be very honest. A lot of time I believe the queer community is shown in a certain way in films is simply because the people who are in-charge of creating those stories are not well educated enough in what is queer. For the longest time the queer community has been under wraps. We have always been told that this is not the right way of being. It is a conditioning of the society for many years which basically doesn't teach you about who we are and what queerness is. So, everybody has a very narrow and limited understanding of what a queer person is. When you come from a space of not knowing, you only project in your cinema, how much of it you understand. Off lately, because of the openness of OTT and world cinema, people have also started educating themselves rather than being narrow-minded or unaware of who queer people are.”

He also says, “It was a taboo and seen as a bad thing earlier. There used to be a lot of negativity attached to the queer persona. Now, people are understanding we are all the same human beings. Just because your sexuality is different, doesn't make you a different person. This is an aspect of your life which is different. It is like vegetarian and non-vegetarian. You cannot say this person is wrong because he eats only vegetarian food. The society is now educating themselves more on queerness, that's why there is a more sensitive and informed take on queer characters. Since, it's my first acting project, I see it as a medium of expression. So, if there is a certain characters that allows me to explore certain aspect where I am excited about the person I am playing, I'll always choose those parts.”

Rick Roy reacts to hypersexualisation of queer characters

Rick also agrees on the misrepresentation and hypersexualisation of queer community in cinema. He opines, “Why are queer people shown as hyper-sexual is because the understanding of these people till now was based on the sexual preference. Why do you believe I am different as a queer person, just because I choose to have sex with a different person? So, what happens is that the understanding of a queer person comes as different only because of their sexual orientation. People tend to focus on that constantly rather than understanding who the person is. It's basically you see me as different just because I choose to sleep with a different gender than you. Therefore, in a film while characterizing me you will show only the sexual preference. So, what you will do is hypersexualize my preference and make it look like this person is only this.”

He further adds, “Now, you get to realise that a queer person can be a lawyer, an investment banker or anything. The more understanding you have about a community or people, the more sensible you will be. See how women were characterised in 80s and 90s films. They were sati-savitri women who were beaten up by their husbands and having their children. The way women have been projected over the years has also changed. People have started understanding what a female character can be in a film. The more understanding you have, the more humane and open you will be in creating those characters in cinema.”

Rick has been previously associated with films like Desi Boyz, Housefull 2, Tumhari Sulu and Shiddat.

Dil Dosti Dilemma is streaming on Amazon Prime.

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