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The Journey from Albert Square to Hollywood may seem daunting and long, but Ray Panthaki takes it in his stride, as he tells FOCUS.
He may be familiar to Eastenders fans for his stint as Ronny in the BBC's popular soap between 2003 and 2005, but Ray Panthaki already had a track record in film when he joined the series.
He had appeared in Ali G Indahouse, Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later and the ambitious crossover romance Bollywood Queen before he made his most significant mark on British film with Kidulthood, which he helped develop, starred in and co-produced.
And he admits that his time on Eastenders proved invaluable in getting that project off the ground.
"When I started the show I promised myself that I'd buy a laptop with my first pay packet," he explains. "I would just lock myself away in my dressing room when I had any free time and start writing. I stayed true to my word and did it, and the result was Kidulthood. I'd been working with Noel Clarke for years, we worked closely together from the very beginning, screwing up bits of paper when we got it wrong.
"And then obviously it took many years to make people believe in the project, but it happened eventually and it was the best thing I ever did really, because it helped me to earn my stripes. I came out of Eastenders and I knew what I wanted to do next. It happened and it was successful. Any concerns I had about not being taken seriously were thrown out the window because I’d done something that was very credible."
Panthaki's current project is City Rats, a low budget tale with a gritty, independent sensibility and a criss-crossing narrative that is more reflective of a certain type of American film than its British counterpart. Danny Dyer, Tamer Hassan, Susan Lynch and Kenny Doughty co-star in a succession of seemingly disparate tales that slowly reveal a connection that binds them together.
Taking on the dual role of actor and executive producer Panthaki is able to relate the sometimes tenuous nature of low budget filmmaking in the UK, as well as the sort of dogged determination that gets films such as this made and released.
"I read the script and was really bowled over by the enthusiasm of producer Will Borthwick. I went home that evening, read the script and I just couldn’t put it down. It was so fresh, I’d never seen writing like it before, dark yet funny. I got straight on the phone and said this was the part I was really interested in and that I'd love to do it."
Persuading director Steve Kelly that he was right for the part of the artistic Dean, a man seeking answers in a city populated with wounded souls and characters adrift from the hubbub of the mainstream, was achieved soon after. But as the start of principal photography drew closer some key financing dropped out - which was when Panthaki's producing experience kicked in.
"I think we were always aware that this was a script actors would love to get involved in," he adds, "and to be honest once Danny Dyer got involved we were then able to go and look for finance, including taking it to a private investor who I deal very closely with.
"Then when we've got the finance in place we're able to tie up the last few loose ends in casting, because once the finance is there you’re able to open more doors with agencies. The first thing a lot of agents ask is 'is it financed?'.
"Once we got the cast together the film was shot, then a lot of time was spent in the editing of it. And from there we sent it out to distributors and sales agents to see what the response was. It got a really good response, and we were lucky enough to be in a position where we could pick and choose our distributor.
"We agreed a deal with Revolver, with whom I had a close relationship because of our history on Kidulthood. And in between that time we were sending it out to festivals, Slamdance - which is what Sundance was like 10 years ago - came out of that, so it all tied in very nicely."
As in the best of plots the convoluted narrative soon becomes clear, and you doubt it could have happened any other way. Ray Panthaki is already on to his next challenges, starring in Gurinder Chadha's It's A Wonderful Afterlife and continuing to develop projects with his company Urban Way, so things are looking good. And Albert Square seems a very long way away.
ANWAR BRETT
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