Ankur Rathee Wants To Be More Than Just Another Brown Face In Hollywood

If you’ve watched Made in Heaven, Four More Shots Please! or Thappad, chances are Ankur Rathee has crossed your screen in more ways than one. The actor has built an interesting body of work across Indian and international entertainment, moving between stories about complicated relationships, social expectations and the many shades of human behaviour. From Princeton to the Indian entertainment industry and eventually Hollywood, his own journey has been just as varied, with a few unexpected detours along the way.

His work in Best of the Best saw him revisit another side of himself, bringing his early love for dance into the picture through the character of Ronak. But beyond the roles, Rathee is someone who seems just as interested in questioning the person behind them. Whether it’s navigating the differences between working in India and Hollywood, challenging the stereotypes attached to South Asian actors, or figuring out how to celebrate success without constantly chasing the next milestone, he has plenty to say about the realities of building a career in entertainment.

We caught up with the actor for a conversation about finding his own path, the characters that have challenged his perspectives, sharing a life with fellow actor Anuja Joshi, and why his next big career ambition involves trading emotional monologues for a little action-hero energy.

ELLE: From Princeton to Indian entertainment and now Hollywood, your career has taken some unconventional turns. Looking back, have you ever questioned whether you were on the right path?

Ankur Rathee (AR): I still question whether I’m on the right path. I think part of trying to do something that no one has ever done before means finding your own path, and that can be a path full of doubt and self-doubt. You fall, you fail. Sometimes you’re running in one direction only to realise that your compass is off.

There have been many moments in my career when I’ve questioned whether I’m prioritising the right things, whether I chose the right roles, whether I should have done more of this or more of that, whether I should have prepared harder for a role, networked at a party, pushed here or surrendered there. I don’t think that ever goes away. It’s similar to how an entrepreneur starting their own business or company probably feels. You’re ambitious and driven, fighting tooth and nail for every opportunity and every sale, but there are some really low lows and some really high highs.

ELLE: Your role as Ronak in Best of the Best brought dance back into the picture. Did revisiting that world also bring back memories of a younger Ankur?

AR: It allowed me to introspect and think about how I was at Ronak’s age. I remember being a university student who was part of dance companies and a cappella groups, doing musical theatre, taking myself and those extracurricular activities a little too seriously, and being a little emotionally volatile. Preparing for this role forced me to think back to that younger version of myself and remember how passionate, but also how naïve, I was back then.

ELLE: You’ve been part of projects like Made in Heaven, Four More Shots Please! and Thappad, each exploring very different facets of relationships and society. What makes a story worth telling for you today?

AR: Nowadays, I make it a point to read the scripts. I’m not a huge fan of narrations or someone pitching me a film. I like to read what the film is going to be. If I find myself crying or laughing, or really being pulled in, not just by the storytelling but by the characters and their relationships, then I know the story is resonating with me. It’s an intuitive and emotional response to the writing itself, because I firmly believe that the script is the DNA of any great film.

ELLE: Having worked across Indian and American entertainment, you’ve experienced two industries with very different approaches to filmmaking. What has moving between these worlds taught you?

AR: The way we make movies in India is entirely unique and reflective of our culture, and the way they make movies in the US is reflective of their culture. In Hollywood, there are a lot of rules, processes, protocols, regulations and red tape. That can be both a blessing and a curse because it can prevent Hollywood from being nimble and moving quickly, especially on larger projects with bigger budgets and major studios. But it also means that people lower in the film and production hierarchies are protected and respected, and that the bare minimum standards are maintained.

In India, because we don’t have strong unions or laws protecting performers to the same extent, it can be very difficult to make a living as an artist. The hierarchy on sets can sometimes be too extreme. I think we can learn to make films while respecting every person at every level of the hierarchy. Just because someone gets paid more or is the star of a film doesn’t mean everyone else shouldn’t be treated with equal respect.

ELLE: As a South Asian actor working internationally, there’s often an expectation to represent your culture on screen. How do you navigate that while making room for characters whose stories aren’t necessarily about their ethnicity?

AR:Best of the Best is a great example. Yes, it’s a South Asian story, but it’s so much more. These characters have many more dimensions than just their ethnic identity, which is almost secondary, if not tertiary, to the characters and the plotline. Best of the Best is a comedy, a coming-of-age story and a dance film. Those things matter more to the film’s impact than simply having a bunch of brown faces.

I look forward to doing more roles like that. Of course, it’s wonderful to tell stories focused on South Asian culture, but it’s also wonderful to be more than that racial identity on screen. That’s a stereotype we have to fight. We want American and global audiences to watch Indians in Hollywood without thinking that one character represents all of Indian culture or how Indians think. We’re incredibly diverse, not just in personality and character, but in the cultures within India and across South Asia, and it’s exciting to see that diversity make its way onto screen. I hope to continue doing that with films like Best of the Best.

ELLE: In an industry where there’s always another milestone to chase, has your definition of success changed over the years?

AR: It’s a constant struggle. I have to give credit to my wife, Anuja, for keeping me grateful and reminding me to celebrate the wins. Our industry can make you feel as though you’re in a constant competition. You’re always looking around and thinking you’re not doing enough, and could be doing more.

When you achieve the goals you set the year before, the milestone or goal shifts, and suddenly you’re looking two years into the future and wishing you were there already. The only real way around that is to have people in your life, or a strong inner monologue, that remind you it’s okay, you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be, and you should celebrate and be grateful for where you are and what you’ve achieved.

ELLE: Acting often requires you to step into lives and perspectives that are very different from your own. Have any of your roles changed the way you understand yourself or the world around you?

AR: I’ve never had a character stay with me long after filming wrapped. But different films and characters have forced me to introspect deeply about my own life. For example, Thappad made me reconsider the male privilege I operate with in my family, with my wife and in the world.

Four More Shots Please! was a great example of this, because I found myself on an entirely female-dominated set. For the first time, I felt even an iota of what most women experience in a male-dominated industry. These experiences make you stop and question your own values, and whether you’re living in line with the ideals you say you stand by.

ELLE: You and Anuja Joshi are both actors, which means you understand the unpredictability and demands of the profession. Does being in the same industry make balancing your personal and professional lives easier or more complicated?

AR: It’s a challenge at times, but predominantly a blessing. This is a very complicated profession, full of insecurities, competitiveness, optics, self-doubt and physical intimacy with other people. Having a partner who understands what I’m going through, and has grace for it is such a blessing. It makes a lot of things easier.

The other side is that sometimes neither of us can switch off our career mindset because we’re both so invested in and passionate about our ambitions, so work finds its way into almost every conversation. We have to actively make time to leave our careers and those conversations outside the door, so we can simply be Ankur and Anuja in a room, rather than Ankur the actor and Anuja the actress.

ELLE: Beyond the roles you play and the career you’re building, what’s something about you that people might not necessarily know?

AR: I don’t think people realise how much my spiritual practice and my guru, Paramahansa Yogananda, have influenced me. I’m deeply guided by those teachings and by my relationship with my guru. I don’t talk about it very openly because it’s a very personal thing, but when people ask me, I’m always forthcoming. It has had a profound impact on my life. In a career with many ups and downs, it has kept me even-minded and grounded. I’d love to share that with the world when given the opportunity.

ELLE: And finally, what’s next for Ankur Rathee? Is there a side of yourself or a character you’ve been waiting to explore?

AR: I haven’t been able to do as much action as I’d like. I recently worked with Sabir Pirzada in Hollywood on something that had quite a bit of action in it, which was really fun. He’s the writer behind a number of Marvel franchises, and a phenomenal person to collaborate with. Working with him reminded me how much I want to play an action hero at some point in my career.

I think that’s probably next on the horizon. As a dancer and someone who has trained in different fighting techniques and martial arts at various points in my life, I’d love for all that physicality to culminate in a very physical role in an action movie.

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