ACTION ON RAJKUMMAR’S MIND
Rajkummar Rao feels that confining himself to a genre would mean the death of him as an actor
Rajkummar Rao is one actor who springs a surprise with every performance of his. Naturally, the audience eagerly waits for his films and the actor thinks this is a big compliment for him. He says his endeavour is to continue doing that and keep the viewers on their toes.
“I think if you keep doing the same kind of things, then you are putting yourself in slots. I don’t want to do that ever in my life. I don’t want to ever belong to a particular category because that would be the death of me, as an actor,” says the 35-year-old who has films such as Shahid (2013), CityLights (2014), Trapped (2016), Bareilly Ki Barfi (2017) and Stree (2018) to his credit.
While Rajkummar has tapped into diverse genres — romantic comedy, drama, horror comedy, biography — there is one genre that he is dying to venture into, and that is action. “I haven’t done that, but I am very open to the idea of doing an action film. I am a trained martial artiste, so it would make sense. But there has to be a story as well apart from action,” he says. Rajkummar surely has come a long way in his career — from starring out in the 2010 anthology film, Love Sex Aur Dhokha, to now, being the most sought-after actor in Bollywood. So, did he always envisage his career to shape up the way that it did?
“I am not futuristic at all. I try to live in the moment. I never put much thought into which way my career would go. But I am happy that it’s going the right way. I am very fortunate that people want to see good content on screen, they want to see actors playing characters and that’s how cinema should be,” he shares.
He received rave reviews for his last release Judgementall Hai Kya, and has an interesting slate of films lined up including Made in China, Turram Khan and Roohi Afza.
Rajkummar says he is not just excited about his filmography but also the kind of work that his colleagues are doing.
“I think Ayushmann (Khurrana) is doing so well. Look at his choice of films. He was so good in Article 15. His choice of script is so good. Even Vicky (Kaushal) and Ranbir (Kapoor) are doing such good films. I think great work is happening all around and that’s what matters,” says the actor.
And he says all the credit goes to the new filmmakers who are taking cinema to a different level.
“People like [producer] Dinesh Vijan, Amar Kaushik and many more are changing the definition of cinema. And it is also so nice to work with people who have faith in me,” he concludes.
I am not futuristic at all. I try to live in the moment. I never put much thought into which way my career would go. But I am happy that it’s going the right way.. RAJKUMMAR RAO, ACTOR