Exclusive | Randeep Hooda On Working With Laxman Utekar On 'Eetha': 'I Missed Doing His Earlier Film'

"I am not the actor who goes around tom-tomming (making a fuss)," about things, claims Randeep Hooda, when asked if he can share a bit about his upcoming film Eetha in which he shares screen space with Shraddha Kapoor. But, what he does talk about, and quite fondly too, is what it was like shooting with the director, Laxman Utekar.

In an exclusive interview with The Hollywood Reporter India, Hooda talks about working with Utekar on the upcoming Vithabai Narayangaonkar biopic, what he admires about the director and the difficult experience with his film Swatantrya Veer Savarkar that left him feeling weighed down.

"I had the greatest time shooting with Lakshman Utekar. I missed out doing another movie with him earlier," says Hooda, referring to the 2025 historical epic Chhavva, which the actor had turned down at the time due to tensions surrounding the 2024 biographical drama Swatantrya Veer Savarkar which Hooda had directed and starred in.

"I was so broken down by the whole Savarkar experience and the whole physical, political thing that it was, that I didn’t want to go into it again. I was exhausted," he reveals, mentioning that it was when he filmed Eeta, that he realised he should have been part of Chhavva as well.

"Not only is he a very good director, he’s also a very good man," says the actor about Uthekar. "And I like that in people. I don’t care if you’re a artist. It is more important to be a nice person because you will be spending a lot of time with them before, after, and during the shoot. I find that more important now as one grows up," he adds.

Hooda is also set to make his second Hollywood appearance with Sam Hargrave's action film Matchbox, slated for an October release, where he will be seen alongside prominent faces such as John Cena, Jessica Biel, Sam Richardson, Danai Gurira and more.