News18 Rising Bharat Summit 2025: Randeep Hooda talks about stardom in the age of social media: "I was trying to follow the yesteryear actors and then I had to follow the trend"

Randeep Hooda attended Rising Bharat Summit

On Day 2 of the News18 Rising Bharat Summit 2025, being held in New Delhi, Randeep Hooda talked about how social media has changed everything over the years. The actor also criticised the way celebrities are documenting their every move on social media.

Randeep was among the actors of Bollywood who let his performance do all the talking. However, the actor has come a very long way and often gave interviews and promoted films with press conferences and interviews.

The actor addressed the drastic change and said, “Hum unn actors ko dekh kar bade hue the jo ki hume parde pe jyada dikhte the, hume unke baare me knowledge kum hoti thi. (We grew up watching actors who were more visible on screen, and we knew less about their personal lives).”

He added, “Wo maddenazar rakhte hue mujhe bhi humesha lagta that ki log mere characters me jyada believe karenge. )Keeping that in mind, I always thought that people would believe more in my characters if I maintained a sense of mystery).” He further noted that he has changed with the time and the advent of social media.

Randeep also shared, “Aaj bhi hamare desh mein jo bhi bade star hai jinko hum dekh kae kuch bhi, they were before social media (Even today, the big stars in our country, whom we see on social media, were a rarity before its advent).”

The actor further noted that the audience had to buy movie tickets, go to cinemas and make an effort to see them, sparking intrigue and curiosity among fans. He added, “I was trying to follow them, and then I had to follow the trend.”

However, the actor also noted that he is currently not on social media. He admitted that he deleted his social media apps from his mobile while filming his 2024 Swatantrya Veer Savarkar.

Hooda asked everyone to introspect with regard to their views on Savarkar and continued by saying, “A man who was ‘maafi-veer’, why was he imprisoned by the Britishers for 27 years? Ask this question to yourself. One must also research about it."

And finally, actor Randeep Hooda urged the audience at the Rising Bharat Summit to develop a more nuanced view of Savarkar’s legacy. In a thought-provoking comment, Hooda said Veer Savarkar, a man imprisoned by the British for 27 years, is referred to as “maafi-veer”, a reference to his so-called apology to the ruling British colonialists.

Randeep Hooda also addressed the controversy when he mentioned that a person doesn’t need to be either left or right inclined, ideologically. “Left and the right wing belong to the same bird. Ideologies must be different so that there is a debate for people to understand both sides. People can be neutral also. Politics on Savarkar has been going on since the time when there were only three political parties in the country – the Indian National Congress, the Hindu Maha Sabha and the Muslim League. Today also, opposition raises questions on the government and vice versa", he added

Also Read: News18 Rising Bharat Summit 2025: Nushrratt Bharuccha on Nepo kids and expectations from them: "They have their own pressures"

Randeep Hooda is gearing up to star in the upcoming action thriller Jaat, which also features Sunny Deol and Vineet Kumar Singh, Regina Cassandra, Saiyami Kher and Swarupa Ghosh in the lead roles.

The film is directed by Gopichand Malineni and is produced by Naveen Yerneni and Ravi Shankar under the banner of Mythri Movie Makers and TG Vishwa Prasad under People Media Factory. The music for the film is composed by Thaman S. Jaat will be released in theatres on April 10.