‘RELEASE A FILM THE RIGHT WAY’

Actor Rajeev Khandelwal blames poor release by producers for some of his films’ failure

Actor Rajeev Khandelwal (above) says his work in films such as Samrat & Co. (2014) and Soundtrack (2011) was appreciated, but they failed at the box office due to poor release by the producers.

“If critics appreciate my work and still the film doesn’t work, then that means it’s not because of me. It’s because the producers didn’t release it in a way for it to succeed. Like Samrat & Co. released in such a strange manner that people didn’t know that the film is releasing,” says the actor.

“Soundtrack had come, no one watched it and later when people watched it on DVD, they all said it was a very good film. People always say they didn’t watch it in the cinema hall and that’s not because of me. It was the responsibility of the producer to release it well... It had released in 50 screens and no one gave it even 300 or 500 or 1000 screens to play it,” he added.

Rajeev — who was a popular television actor before he ventured into films, started his career with a bang with Aamir (2008) for which he was nominated for the best debut in most of the awards. He followed that up with Bejoy Nambiar’s Shaitan (2011). But after that, his films have not been able to reach the same success.

“Shaitan was released well and it earned money as well, and Table No. 21 (2013) could have been a bigger release, but earned money according to the level it was released in. Both were profitable films,” says Rajeev, whose performances have largely been appreciated, in both his successes and failures. About the praise coming his way, the actor says: “I like appreciation from all sides. You get an encouragement from it. I hope that I don’t fail against critics’ expectations and not disappoint them.”