By Dibyojyoti Baksi

Mumbai, Aug 6 (IANS): Actor Randeep Hooda, who plays a police officer in Milan Luthria's "Once Upon A Time in Mumbai", did quite a bit of research for the role of ACP Agnel Wilson, but says he did not follow any one in particular

Randeep says he primarily tried cultivating the character from within.

"I spoke to quite a few police officers. I saw some films of that time but performance wise, I didn't try following anyone in particular. I always try to visualise if Randeep Hooda does that character how it will be. I concentrate on that. It came out well," the 33-year-old actor told IANS.

Randeep says he has also realized that the prospect of a film depends largely upon the banner and director of the film.

"I used to concentrate on roles and script but now I realize that there is always a huge machinery that works behind the success of a film, which is made possible by big directors and producers. I am thankful to Milan Luthria that he entrusted that role on me. It was a great break," Randeep said.

Randeep made such an endearing spell as a serious actor playing Dawood Ibrahim in "D" (2005) that later his endeavour for a image makeover as a romantic actor in "Ru-Ba-Ru" (2008) and a comedian in "Love Khichdi" (2009) abysmally failed to surpass that image.

"My role in 'Ru-Ba-Ru' was completely different from what I have done previously. It was a jolt to the audience as they always tend to compare you with your previous roles and couldn't accept this alteration. So I couldn't get recognition for such roles," Randeep said.

Asked if he would continue doing only serious roles, he said: "Nothing of that sort. If there is a different role, whose script, director and producer are strong enough to give the character a recognition, I would surely go for it."

Randeep maintains that inept political and administrative system of the 1970's resulted in the formation of the formidable murky world in Mumbai as portrayed in "Once Upon A Time..."

"Now it's not like that but before 1993 blast, it was like that. Earlier, the criminal system developed much faster than the administrative system. Present Mumbai police is very capable and they are named among world's first few efficient police service," the actor said.

Asked if he thinks that success of this film will bring him bigger and better roles, he said: "I don't know. Let's wait and see. The kind of appreciation I got for this movie, I have never got it before. I hope it will translate into bigger and better offers. That is the aim of doing every film."

Randeep is now all set to play the role of a boxer in "Bhiwani". The film is directed by Tigmanshu Dhulia and the screenplay is by Abhishek Chaubey, who wrote films like "Omkara" (2006) and "Kaminey" (2009) and made his directorial debut with "Ishqiya" (2010).