If you change nothing, nothing will change.
Rajkummar Rao
Everybody is replaceable; nobody is irreplaceable here. If I'm going to say no to it because I want to do two films a year and sit at home, someone else will.
I want to go higher in my career. This is not my best. My best is yet to come.
Every time I think I'm going to take it slow, a good script comes along.
Content is getting its due respect. Our audience wants to see characters on screen and want to see actors play new roles, adapt different body language.
People took notice of me and saw that I can carry off light-hearted roles as well. They started talking about Pritam Vidrohi, and it became a lovable character; I saw that people were clapping and whistling. It was a big high to watch this kind of reaction.
I have picked 'mainstream' films only because there is a story, and there are lovely people attached to it. That's a conscious decision always for me. What's the point if there is no story to tell?
'Stree' is a horror comedy in which a bridal ghost who is back in town to take revenge from men, she is the one giving a lot of pain to the men. We have reversed the role, which is such an amazing feeling.
When you are successful, the perception of the people around you changes. If I do a variety of work, people notice me differently, and that is what is happening. I am fortunate to get these opportunities.
I don't know when I'll ever get a chance to be all alone in a film.
I always feel secure. I can't be a pure actor if I feel insecure. I can't let other things take over my love for acting. For me, it's a giving art. It is not something which I am doing for myself. I am doing it for my co-actors, unless it is something like 'Trapped'.
I was a very outgoing guy. I loved roaming around, hanging out with friends. From class 5th, I practised and learnt martial arts for about 7-8 years and have won medals at the national level. Then I trained in dancing on stage. In class 10th, I acted in my first play, and that's when I realised I wanted to become an actor.
'Newton' is a very Indian film but resonates with people all across. And that's the reason it got great response at the film festivals.
Playing a real-life character, as an actor, gives me real high because there is so much of research material available in front of you.
Filmmaking is teamwork.
I try to bring all my sincerity to the character I play. That way, I am dedicated.
I want to keep running. I don't ever want this journey to finish. And for that to happen, you can't put too much of your brain in doing things and can't connect too many dots because, anyway, there is no guarantee of anything.
My parameter of judging a script has not changed over the years. I still go for a script where the story interests me. Yes, there are times where I might go wrong; say, out of five scripts, I might go wrong on one.
Though 'Shahid' was the only true story, what happened in 'Trapped' can happen to anyone. And I am sure there are people like Newton, and there are boys who are naive, sweet, and rowdy, like my part in 'Bareilly'... The humanness is something I loved.
I think media will tell me how many films I have done in 2018, same as they did in 2017. So, let's see how it goes, but I don't really keep a count. I love doing interesting work.
I think God made this very path for me, and he guided me all throughout. And my family has always been very supportive. It's not like one day I sat across the dinner table and told them I want to be an actor. It didn't happen like that.
People claim that no good actors came out of FTII after Naseeruddin Shah and Shabana Azmi. What they don't know is that the acting course was closed for 26 years and reopened only in 2004.
My only job is to act and play the character truthfully and honestly.
In Delhi, I became a serious stage actor. Then, luckily, the FTII acting course began, and I studied there, spent some time working on my craft. In 2008, I moved to Mumbai, and then in one and a half years of so-called struggle, I got my first film, 'Love Sex aur Dhokha' (LSD).
I am a greedy actor: I want all the scripts to come to me. So I do all the good films which come my way, even if it means I'll rest a little less.
The only thing that I know is that if I like a particular script, I want to be as honest to my character as possible. That's the only thing I can control. I have made a lot of decisions on an impulse, and I am going to continue that.
We're just actors, man, just part of things. We're just doing our jobs, like everyone else does their jobs. The adulation for us is much more because we are always in the public eye. But I never became an actor because I wanted people to scream out my name.
The process of playing a character as dark as Omar Saeed Sheikh is disturbing. So you have to mentally also be in that psyche, that state of mind. So, it was not easy. I was trying to cultivate a lot of anger and hatred in me while portraying him, because that's what I read and heard about him.
I take my work very seriously, but I don't take myself seriously.
No, nothing much has changed in me as an actor. Since the day I started out, I always wanted to be part of good stories. The only thing that has changed is now I have options of good stories to choose from.
People will invest in you only if they see some kind of return, and that's the dark truth.
After finishing my study in Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), I was mentally prepared for the struggle in the film industry.
I want to work with Darren Aronofsky, Damien Chazelle, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu and, of course, Majid Majidi.
A lot of preparation was needed to play the character of Omar Sheikh in Omerta. I watched a lot of documentaries and hate speeches to cultivate anger in me.
After my schooling, I started theatre. By the time I graduated, I was doing theatre 24x7. Luckily, the FTII (Film and Television Institute of India) acting course started.
I am very happy for the kind of response I am getting for my work, but there was a lot of hard work that has gone into it.
My process of choosing scripts remains the same. Of whatever I read and whatever excites me is what I will continue to take up.
You have to voice your opinion, especially now, since the times we are living in, it is so easy.
I don't really think about the box office, but I want my films to do well.
We are seeing how people we have looked up to and were inspired by in our work have suddenly just gone because there are such serious allegations against them. I really don't know why it is not happening here.
There are times when I do feel very nervous when I start a film. And I feel very nervous before the release. I do get stuck in some scenes, but that's very natural and human. It happens to all the artistes in the world.
I think every character is important in every film - be it small, primary, or lead - because they are adding something to the story, taking it forward.
When Raj and DK came and narrated me the script, the title was something else. But in conversation, I told them if we can name it 'Stree'. In a way, I was the one who decided the title. I found that one word very catchy.
I was fortunate to work with some of the talented filmmakers of our industry. In addition, one film leads to another. As a newcomer, I explored those opportunities.
I have immense respect for Nitesh sir and really admire his work. He's one of my closest friends in the industry, with whom I can have a heart-to-heart chat.
A film like 'Kai Po Che!', 'Queen', 'Behen Hogi Teri' and 'Bareilly Ki Barfi' are not really independent films.
It's very tough for someone who doesn't have a filmi background to get work in Bollywood. It's not a smooth ride unless you are really lucky. But I think one has to be prepared for that.
I don't know how my body would react if I don't eat for 10 days. In order to go through that experience, I almost did not eat or drink water for 15-20 days. I only had one carrot a day, a cup of black coffee, and a few sips of water.
When I was in Class Four, I wanted to be an astronaut. I am still fascinated with the universe. I decided I wanted to be an actor when I was in Class Eight.
I feel since people have started noticing me and enjoying my performance, and considering the kind of love I've got in 2017-18, many feel that I have arrived, because there's a belief that I can probably carry a film on my shoulders now.
