He won the Gladrags Manhunt competition in 1999 with his flowing locks, good looks and an eight pack at a time when people didn’t know what an eight pack was. He then went on to place 2nd in the international competition strutting his stuff against 70 other hotties from all over the world. What many people don’t know about the supermodel/actor Dino Morea, is that he is an ace sportsman, and could easily win a popularity contest with his easy manner, genuine warmth, unaffected candor and sense of humor.
In this exclusive interview, Dino Morea shares some moments from his life, his modeling career, the switch to the silver screen and his soon to be released latest film Bhram: An Illusion produced by Magna and directed by Pavan Kaul .
Your dad is an Italian and mom an Indian. An interesting mix! So what were the early years like?
I come from a very close knit family. My parents are the most God fearing parents. Italians are typically like Indians, very family oriented, very close knit, always looking out for each other. They are warm, as warm as the Indians. The culture, the family values are more or less the same where Italian and Indians are concerned.
My dad came to Bombay and met my mom, and fell in love. They got married and it was more or less a fairly tale marriage. He was in Bombay for a couple of years and a lot of ladies who I meet nowadays vouch for dad and say he was a very handsome and charming man. I lived in Italy for a few years because my father had to go back. His work then brought him to Bangalore and that is where I grew up and did my schooling and college.
So, while going through school did you ever dabble in theater or think that you wanted to be a model or act in films?
(Laughs) Well, I think in the fourth standard I tried doing a play because there was a girl that I liked, and I joined a band because I liked a girl in the band. I got to stand next to her and play the trombone! I guess I got to play a new instrument so that was the saving grace! So I did crazy things like that in school, but theater was never big in my school.
So I hear you had a friend who thought he was hot and so did you and all of you could not walk past a mirror without preening!
That was when I was in college! A very dear friend of mine used to think he was God’s gift to women and every day we would all dress up and go to this popular road in Bangalore which is close to my college and try to impress the girls. And every mirror, or piece of glass or reflection in any car we’d look and go..woh!-look at me! I look so handsome-so it was quite funny, but the girls used to find him very attractive!
How was the modeling scene in Bangalore those days?
It was small compared to Bangalore but there were always opportunities. I got my first opportunity through an ad. A friend of mine whose brother was a photographer saw me in college and said would you like to do a shoot for a clothing brand? I said sure go ahead. At that time I was only interested in how much money I was making! I earned a thousand rupees for that ad and that got me to go on a couple of dates!
Then one thing led to another. People saw the ad and I got called to do a car batteries ad, and all sorts of strange things but it was good money. Then Prasad Bidappa met me and said-No you are still looking too childish to walk the ramp. I was 17 or 18 and was still chubby on the face even though I was very athletic. I think it was a year after that, he used me for his fashion shows-one thing let to another and I started getting more shows. So college was great, money was coming in. I was modeling, I was popular, couldn’t ask for anything better at that time. I was doing my degree and then one of my friends coaxed me into doing the Gladrags Modeling Competition. I was really shy of competitions. You really have to train yourself, look good.
I went through the selection in Bangalore. They asked me to wear a pair of shorts and strut around. I thought-What the hell is this? But I was in great shape at that time and didn’t mind it and within a week I got a letter telling me you’ve been selected to come to Bombay for the finals.
The motivating factor was this fantastic jeep which was up for grabs and I said this I need! I sat in it while we were training. We had a 2 week training session in Bombay and a photo shoot and I was there sitting in the jeep and saying this has got to be mine. It was all good! Those were the fantastic years of my life. I think I was 20 when I won the Gladrags and immediately after that went to the international competition where I came second.
How was the international competition? And how was the modeling scene abroad as compared to India?
It was an eye opener. You see 70 odd guys from all over the world all looking their best. I was like-who what am I pitted against but I decided to have fun and not take it like a serious competition. I think that was what got me to the 2nd position because throughout the competition I kept having a blast and the judges liked the fact that I kept smiling and had that easy going manner. The guy who came third, Mr. America was a fantastic looking guy but he had the wrong attitude. He thought he was No 1 and he was going to win. He had this pompous, snooty attitude. Had he been a little more easy going he would have definitely won because he was one of the best looking guys I would say.
When I came second I won a contract with this agency in Singapore and I modeled for a couple of months in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong. I did a couple of shows and shoots like Donna Karan, Calvin Kline. There they work with casting agents. So I was working with the agency and they hooked me to everything. They’d say okay go for that casting and I’d go around the city, get selected or not get selected. They’d collect the payment, give you your share, and take their commission. That way they were very organized. In India you’ve got to find out where the casting is, you go to the casting, you’ve got to decide how much you want to be paid, you quote your price and you bargain-they bargain. Then you’ve got to go and run around to collect your check. But that’s when you are starting out in India. Once you reach the stage where you are considered a top model then you can call the shots and no one can mess around with you.
So when you came back was it easy to make a break in the industry because you were this international and nationally known face?
Let me tell you, all Gladrags did for me was to give me that initial publicity-here’s this new boy, his name is Dino Morea. After that I had to do everything on my own because I had also disappeared for about a year after Gladrags. I was in Singapore and Hong Kong doing my stint and then I went back to Bangalore, completed my degree and then decided okay lets move to Bombay. I started all over again. I met choreographers and started doing fashion shows. Bombay was totally different from Bangalore. I moved into a room basically. It was a room with a bathroom. I shared that with a friend of mine from Bangalore and my food was in restaurants everyday because you don’t have a kitchen. You don’t have someone to cook food for you, you don’t have a maid to come in and clean your room. So it was pretty rough in the beginning and took some getting used to. I made a couple of friends and that’s how I fought every day and made it. There is no other way basically.
There were moments I was completely disheartened, when I would sit in my room and think sometimes that is this what I really want to do? Am I going in the right direction? I’ve studied, got my degree-is this what I want to do? For me the whole idea was to make money. How do I make money fast? Even when I was in college, besides modeling, I used to do quick real estate jobs. When I was in high school, I used to do market surveys where you fill up a form and you get 10 rupees. I used to do all that to make money.
Money has always been a priority with me because as a family we lived a fairly simple life and we didn’t have all the luxuries one would love to have as a kid. So I wanted all that and may be that’s what got me going that I’ve got to make money. There were many times I was very disheartened and very depressed and wondered what should I do next? I just fought it-every new day I’d move ahead, meet a few people, go look for work, get work. I just hung in there. I think hanging in there is the most important thing and fighting it out, and being positive about things is very important.
Pyar Mein Kabhi Kabhi your first film literally fell in your lap. For someone who couldn’t speak Hindi, it was quite a pleasant surprise to know that you actually worked tirelessly on your diction, even reading Harivansh Rai Bachchan’s Madhushala in Hindi, given to you just for fun, and emoting as well as you did! It was a cute film, a debut film for many in it, and has some great music! Shaan catapulted to stardom with Musu Musu and it was the first film for the super successful music directors Vishal and Shekhar.
Thank you. When I was offered Pyar Mein Kabhi Kabhi, I told my director I don’t even know if I’m ready for the industry yet. I wasn’t even contemplating getting into it and I cant speak the language. He said Dino you look the part, you look my character, please do it. I said okay, lets give it a shot and do it for laughs, and just went with the flow.
Technically I knew what to do as I had already done a couple of TV commercials and music videos. I knew what a director needed to do to get the best out of me. Every time before a scene I’d go through my lines, understand the scene very well and there was no hardship. I had a blast shooting.
Do you remember your very first scene?
Of course, I remember the first scene! We were shooting in this college in Poona. I was lying down on this bench with my group of friends and we were talking about something that went wrong, and I had to tell Aakash that yes it’s basically your fault” I did it on cue promptly, and it came out pretty well actually. Everyone was new in the film-the director, the producer, the cinematographer, musicians. It was a first for everyone and they were brilliant. We didn’t know if we were on the right track, there was no one with experience to guide us but we all did it, we all took the risk, but we all had a great time!
So there was a two year break before you got Raaz. You emoted very well-your performance was subtle, and underplayed, not loud and in your face. Thought Raaz went on to become a runaway hit I heard you were quite unsure of how it would fare just prior to its release?
Strangely in India, if you act subtly people think you can’t act because they are so used to the overacting antics and so used to melodrama which is high end. Like Shahrukh Khan in his early movies used to jump around so much or take Govinda films. Automatically they become good actors because they are doing so much more yet most subtle performances where the expression is there in your eyes and your face, passes of as he can’t act. Its slowly changing.
Raaz was what actually got me my foothold in the movies. I still remember the day before the release we were all sitting together-Mahesh Bhatt, Mukesh, Vikram, myself and we were like what is going to happen with the film. You never know. It could either do really well or it may not open at all because it was a completely different film from what was working at that time. It was a scary, supernatural thriller and people were into romantic comedy. The music created a rage and everybody who went and watched the film loved it. There were people in the audience that were screaming and shouting and the reaction was great. We knew the film was a runaway success and became one of the biggest hits that year-strangely not a single award-its a farce-the awards-its all about making money now.
Aksar too did very well at the box office because of the songs.
I hear there is a sequel in the making but without the original cast? I believe you had had a discussion about the sequel with Mahesh Bhatt.
Well you should have a word with Mr. Bhatt. They obviously have something up their sleeve. They want to make a sequel and it would be great to do a sequel as long as the story is good and makes sense. Yes we were shooting for “ Holiday” with Pooja Bhatt and Mr. Bhatt was down and we had a conversation about making a sequel and threw some ideas and he said yes we should do it. That was it, nothing conclusive, or fully flushed out. Then the next thing I knew they are making a sequel and none of us were approached-neither Bipasha, nor me nor Vikram Bhatt. So I really have no clue what this is all about.
Now that you mention “Holiday”. It was also a lovely film with some amazing dancing from you. How long did you train for it? And is it true you got drunk for a scene for “ Life Mein Kabhi Kabhi?’
I trained for about 6 months because the whole Latin American posture, the form is completely different from your usual dance form. It’s the most straight, standing upright kind of dance form, and in Latin American dance there is Salsa, there’s Samba, Paso Doble, Rhumba, there is Cha cha cha. To get that right took me 6 months.
As for Life Mein Kabhi Kabhi, yes I did(get drunk). I told Vikram(Bhatt), I don’t know if I can “ act” drunk so let me just get drunk So I did actually get a little high and tipsy. You know the feeling of getting tipsy-you become a little unbalanced and your speech becomes different and your eyes show it. I was only afraid that I’d forget the lines but luckily I didn’t. It came out pretty decently, where I was drunk and screaming at my brother!
You won’t believe I meet people who remember TDH more than my hard work for Holiday. That’s what confuses me about the audience these days. Everyone I meet and its TDH, everywhere I travel its TDH. I figured this is what I should be doing-some strange comedy that works. Critics may pan it but the audience loves it.
Dus Kahaniyan has been very well received. An interesting genre.
Dus Kahaniyan is a new concept. Its been well appreciated. I got a lot of fan mail and emails talking about the film I did called Sex on the Beach. So I was happy. It’s a new concept where you have short stories. You see everyone’s capability, the talent in making a short film in 10 minutes. It gives a lot of film makers the opportunity to watch and think okay may be we can make short films too and send it to festivals.
Gone are the days of silver jubilees and golden jubilees!
You can’t have that today with two movies releasing every Friday! I met this theater owner and when Khoya Khoya Chand was released, he said on the 2nd or 3rd day 10 people were there, so we removed the print. It was really unfortunate. That is the state of affairs. Every body is making a movie and every week you’ve got something or the other releasing or two films releasing every week, so what is the audience going to watch? There are two options every week and out of these options they want to see big stars, they want to see interesting cinema but then a movie like Partner is working and you keep trying to figure out what does the audience really want to watch.
Its never easy to make a film, and you honestly have to look at what’s working and what’s not working.
What’s working, is films that make you laugh and that’s because our daily lives are so drab and so dull. People are working very hard, they want to go to cinema and escape. They wanna laugh and they wanna be happy and I think that is what the audience wants.
I believe many corporate houses too are involved but Pavan mentioned its still only about the big stars.
Yes, corporates come and say, Okay can you get Salman Khan, can you get Shahrukh Khan and then they throw in the money. It’s a bit ridiculous, but the corporates are coming in to make money. They are not coming to make good films.
So you have your own production house now-Clock work productions? And you had Karan Johar facing the camera for you!
Yes, I became a producer and he the actor though I asked him when we are going to switch sides! We did TV commercials to start with. I’m reading some scripts and I hope next year we can put a movie together.
If there was a film you would give an arm and a leg for what would it be?
You know I haven’t done good action films so something like “ Deewar” or Zanjeer. I like action films. I also like the Aamir Khan Pooja Bhatt film(Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin). I’d be very good in romantic comedy. I hope I get something though! I would love to work with Karan Johar, Anurag Basu who I think is brilliant and more recently Raju Hirani(Of Munna Bhai fame).
Many people don’t know that you are an ace sportsman. Today I believe there is a lot of steroid use in the industry along with drug use.
Sports have always been a big fixture in my life because my mum and dad really encouraged us to play a lot of different sports when we were in school, be it football, athletics, tennis.
They made sure I played very sport and whatever the matches I had to be there playing and practicing. I began to love it, so sports have been very crucial in my life through college and once I came to Bombay I continued playing a lot of basketball and football.
Yes, there is a lot of it(steroid use) going on, even with the actors who are supposed to be very knowledgeable about these things. Every body wants a short cut and they keep on doing stupid things. They keep on using steroids, there is a lot of drug abuse in our country among youngsters which is really unfortunate. I feel that nothing other than upbringing and parental support can help. Everybody thinks it’s a great thing, it’s a fad but its not. Today when I look back I think hats off to my parents, they brought us up with our heads screwed on right and we know what we are doing.
Unfortunately there is no value for life in India. One bomb blast, 10-12 people die and people go on with their work the next day, no one really cares because there are so many people. If the population was 10 million then maybe people would care but when we have a population of over a billion and 10 get hurt and die nobody gives a damn-only the people close to them really care.
How do you stay so grounded. Every one speaks very highly of you and what is it about your journey that has surprised you when you look back?
I don’t know any other way. I can’t be high handed-that’s just not me. Out here its an entire war-everyone against everyone. Its ridiculous. Today it’s more cutthroat, no love lost between anybody.
This is India-even before a movie releases the whole industry wants it to do badly. It’s really a pity. Everybody is so vicious about someone else’s movie releasing. There’s so much negativity before the movie is released that everyone wishes the movie would flop. There’s no one wishing well for someone else’s movie doing well, so the critics are out there ready to pan any film. I think they take their job a little too seriously and a little too far. Some one should try and control or may be allow the critics to criticize a week after the movie is released because they really do make an impact on how many people go and watch a film.
It’s crazy because the competition is so stiff, there are so many new actors, so many new directors, and so many movies being made, because of this I’ve got my gang and you’ve got your gang. There’s insecurities between actors so you have Bachchan vs Khan, Khan vs Khan and then we’ve also got the press. The Press blows it all out of proportion and today it’s the media who can make you or break you. A simple not saying “ Hi’ between two actors can be blown out of proportion and then one actor takes it really seriously and makes a comment which the media twists around and the other person thinks that actor really said it and makes his comment and that is twisted and it becomes a war when no one actually said anything.
Well what has surprised me about myself, or may be not surprised but the willingness to adapt and go with the flow, and achieve so much actually, is what has made me feel good.