Riteish Deshmukh: Real life Banjo players told me that people use them as decorations at events

Riteish Deshmukh is on a promotional spree for his upcoming film -- Banjo, which also features Nargis Fakhri and Dharmesh. The Ravi Jadhav directorial is a story of an underdog, a Banjo player who makes it big internationally with his talent.

During the promotion of the film in Delhi, Riteish talked about why this film is important and special. He explained that the film is not just about a Banjo player but his character in it represents all those artists who work to gain respect for their talent.

In order to prepare for his character, Riteish had to meet real-life Banjo players and watch many videos. The actor, while talking to Catch, recalled how there were a few instances about these artists that truly touched him. He said:

"Generally, instruments like Banjo and other street art forms that we have are only used during celebrations, whether there's a festival or a family function. When I interacted with these artists, they told me that 'hume decoration ki tarah istemaal kiya jata hai. Hum bajate hain, hume paise milte hain. Koi hume paise deta hai or koi paise fekta hai. Zarurat hume hai, toh hume uthane padte hai. Koi kehta hai ki Rs 1000 milege agar muh se uthayega.' (They use us like decorations. We play Banjo, they give us money. Somebody gives money, somebody throws money. It's we who need money here, so we do have to pick up the money. Sometimes, they offer us more money in lieu of the specific things they ask us to do, like picking the note from mouth).

Riteish explained how he has added these references to his character. He revealed:

"Banjo has a scene where a character picks up money from his mouth and the other character asks him 'aise muh se uthana acha lgta hai kya?' (does it look good to pick money from your mouth?). And then there's my character who is clear that all he wants in life is respect. So a girl comes in their life (Nargis Fakhri) who tells them that 'Ab tak tum pet ke liye baja rahe ho, jis din dil ke liye bajaoge na, ijjat mil jayegi'. (So far, you've been playing to earn your livelihood, the moment you'll start playing this for yourself, you'll get all the respect you want)."

Banjo, produced by Krishika Lulla under Eros Entertainment, is slated to hit the screen on 23 September.