‘An Actor At The Top Of His Game’

‘At
his
wedding
with
Patralekha,
I
officiated
as
the
groom’s
father
as
Raj
has
lost
both
parents,
and
that’s
the
relationship
we
share
today.’

As
Rajkummar
Rao
turned
40
on
August
31,
Director

Hansal
Mehta
tells



Rediff.com
Senior
Contributor

Roshmila
Bhattacharya
about
this
phenomenally
talented
actor,
whom
he
first
directed
in
the
2012
biographical
drama,



Shahid.

The
film
bagged
Raj
the
National
Award
for
Best
Actor
and
since
then,
the
magical
duo
has
collaborated
on
four
other
films
and
an
OTT
series.

‘My
wife
was
astounded
I
had
found
my
Shahid’

My
first
meeting
with
Rajkummar
Rao,
actually
he
was
Rajkummar
Yadav
then,
was
literally
forced
on
me
by
casting
director
Mukesh
Chhabra.

I
was
looking
for
a
guy
to
play
the
lead
in

Shahid
and
since
my
last
few
films
hadn’t
worked
commercially,
none
of
the
leading
actors
wanted
to
work
with
me.

Raj
had
just
shot
that
crazy
dance
sequence
in

Gangs
of
Wasseypur
and
Mukesh
kept
saying
he’s
a
really
good
actor
and
I
should
meet
him.

One
day,
when
he
called
again
with
the
same
request,
I
gave
in
and
told
him
to
send
the
boy
across.

He
surprised
me
by
admitting
Raj
was
standing
outside
my
office
building
and
I
invited
him
up
for
a
cup
of
tea.

This
was
in
January-February
2011.

I
liked
him
so
much
during
that
first
meeting
that
I
decided
I
would
make

Shahid
with
him.
I
had
to
just
figure
out
how
to
raise
money
to
make
the
film.

Back
then,
I
shared
an
office
with
my
wife
and
she
had
vacated
the
cabin
to
give
us
some
privacy.

She
was
astounded
when
I
told
her
I
had
found
my
Shahid.

‘In
15
minutes
and
you
haven’t
even
seen
him
act!”
she
pointed
out.

I
didn’t
have
to,
there’s
something
so
endearing
and
honest
about
Raj,
and
his
hunger
matched
mine.

People
had
lost
faith
in
me
and
I
was
hungry
to
prove
myself
as
a
director
again
while
he
was
hungry
to
prove
himself
as
an
actor.

In
May,
2011,
we
flagged
off
the
shoot
of

Shahid
in
Pathanwadi,
Mumbai,
with
the
riot
scene.

‘When
Bhattsahab
approached
me
for

CityLights,
I
agreed
instantly’

Dada
had
put
some
make-up
on
Raj
to
make
him
look
younger
for
a
flashback
portion
and
he
looked
unnatural.

I
told
him
and
Jay,
my
son
who
was
assisting
me,
to
remove
all
the
makeup.

When
Raj
finally
walked
out
of
the
house,
he
had
embraced
the
character
and
I
could
see
Shahid
in
him
even
though
there’s
no
physical
likeness.

We
shot
the
film
over
11
months
as
we
had
to
stop
every
few
weeks,
resuming
only
after
we
had
raised
more
money,
and
through
it
all,
Raj
remained
in
character.

He
and
I
were
the
only
ones
who
believed
we
would
complete
the
film,
and
in
making
it,
we
bonded.

Shahid
had
its
world
premiere
at
the
Toronto
International
Film
Festival
on
September
6,
2012.
It
got
a
lot
of
love
and
was
invited
to
many
international
film
festivals.

We
travelled
together
to
the
festivals
which
could
afford
to
host
both
of
us,
and
slowly,
he
became
more
than
an
actor
for
me.

Shahid
released
in
India
in
October,
2013,
and
bagged
Raj
the
National
Award
for
Best
Actor
while
I
won
for
Best
Director.

The
following
year,
we
reunited
for



CityLights.

Raj
had
already
been
signed
and
when
Bhattsahab
(Mahesh
Bhatt)
approached
me
to
direct
the
film,
I
instantly
agreed.

‘He
told
me
he
had
decided
to
do

Aligarh,
he’d
read
the
script
later’

In
2015,
there
was



Aligarh
and
it
was
a
joy
watching
two
brilliant
actors
feeding
off
each
other
and
enhancing
each
other’s
performance.

For
me,
Raj
is
as
much
the
lead
of

Aligarh
as
Manoj
(Bajpayee)
because
without
Deepu
(Rajkummar
Rao’s
character,
journalist
Deepu
Sebastian),
there
would
be
no
Siras
(Manoj
Bajpayee’s
character
Professor
Shrinivas
Ramchandra
Siras)
and
vice
versa.

But
when
I
took
the
role
to
Raj,
I
told
him
clearly
that
Manoj
was
playing
the
central
character
and
I
wouldn’t
take
it
personally
if
he
refused
the
film.

He
was
shooting
for

Hamari
Adhuri
Kahani
at
the
time
and
flying
out
to
New
York.
He
told
me
he
would
read
the
script
there
and
revert.

Frankly,
I
was
doubtful
of
him
accepting
the
film,
but
he
called
me
as
soon
as
he
landed
in
New
York
and
told
me
he
had
decided
to
accept
the
role
without
reading
the
script
‘because

koi
aur
nahin
kar
sakta
(I
can’t
see
anyone
else
playing
the
character)’.

He’s
such
a
giving
actor
and
so
generous
with
his
co-stars
that
he
gives
proper
cues
to
everyone
when
he
is
off
camera.

‘Omerta
is
one
of
his
finest
performances,
but
under-rated’

I
had
the
script
of

Omerta
with
me
for
many
years
but
never
thought
I
would
be
able
to
make
the
film.

I
gave
it
to
Raj
to
read
and
he
came
back
saying,
‘Sir,
it’s
a
challenging
film,
let’s
make
it.’

He
surrendered
to
the
role
completely,
going
into
a
really
dark
zone
with
Ahmed
Omar
Saeed
Sheikh,
a
British
terrorist
of
Pakistani
descent.

His
eyes
have
a
glaze
that’s
chilling.

It
was
a
delight
for
me
to
see
an
actor
at
the
top
of
his
game.



Omerta
is
one
of
Raj’s
finest
performances
but
perhaps
the
most
under-rated.

This
is
the
most
fulfilling
relationship
in
my
career
because
Raj
always
gives
me
more
than
I
ask
for,
physically,
mentally
and
emotionally.

He
pushes
me
to
give
him
different
characters
and
we
are
constantly
challenging
each
other.

I
remember
when
Luv
Ranjan
offered
me

Chhalaang,
I
accepted
because
Raj
and
I
had
not
done
a
film
in
the
popular
zone.

Back
then,
the
film
was
set
in
UP
but
since
my
favourite
actor
had
never
played
a
Haryanvi
character,
I
convinced
our
producer
to
change
the
setting
so
it
would
be
something
new
for
him.

‘Bose:
Dead/Alive
is
responsible
for
all
the
weight
I
have
put
on’

I’ve
directed
Raj
in
five
films
—

Shahid,
CityLights,
Aligarh,
Omerta
and

Chhalaang
—
and
with
every
film,
our
bond
has
grown
stronger.

I
was
also
the
creative
producer
on
the
ALTBalaji
series



Bose:
Dead/Alive,
directed
by
Pulkit,
which
was
singularly
responsible
for
all
the
weight
I
have
put
on.

Raj,
who
plays
Netaji
Subhas
Chandra
Bose,
had
to
put
on
weight
and
I
decided
to
give
him
company,
gorging
on
rice,
ghee,

mishti
doi,

rasgullas
and
pizzas
with
him.

He
quickly
knocked
off
all
the
unwanted
kilos
while
I’m
still
trying.

Raj
was
always
physically
fit
but
now
he
has
a
body
to
envy
and
has
upped
his
fashion
sense.

He’s
also
more
prosperous
now.

It’s
a
happy
time
for
both
of
us
because
we
are
doing
the
kind
of
work
we
want
to
while
also
making
money
and
getting
success.

 ‘We
will
collaborate
again,
maybe
very
soon’

I’ve
seen
all
his
films
and
this
year,
he’s
already
had
three
releases.

Mr
&
Mrs
Mahi
is
a
more
internalised
performance
with
an
author-backed
role
for
Janhvi
Kapoor.

Raj
lets
her
take
centrestage
but
still
makes
his
mark.

The

Srikanth
biopic
is
entirely
his
film
and
he
carries
it
on
his
shoulders.

Another
fine
performance
which
transcends
the
film.

I
have
a
small
cameo
in

Srikanth
and
we
shot
the
climax
together.

I
only
had
to
smile
but
he
had
a
long
monologue
and
we
rehearsed
his
lines
together.

Looking
into
those
white
contact
lenses,
I
could
see
nothing
had
changed
since

Shahid,
Raj
still
surrendered
to
a
character
completely,
uncomplainingly
shooting
for
hours
and
giving
multiple
takes.

His
latest
release,

Stree
2,
is
a
more
physical
comedy
and
he’s
full
of
energy,
standing
out
in
a
crowd.

It’s
heartening
that
all
three
films
have
done
well
with
even
Vasan
Bala’s

Monica,
O
My
Darling,
which
came
earlier
on
Netflix,
getting
rave
reviews.

We
have
not
directed
him
since

Chhalaang
in
2020,
but
whenever
we
meet,
we
talk
about
the
scripts
we
want
to
do,
individually
and
together.

We
will
collaborate
again
when
the
opportunity
presents
itself,
maybe
very
soon.

He’s
family.

At
his
wedding
with
Patralekha,
I
officiated
as
the
groom’s
father
as
Raj
has
lost
both
parents,
and
that’s
the
relationship
we
share
today.

Since
I’ll
be
out
of
Mumbai
on
his
birthday,
we
had
our
own
celebration
before
I
left.

He
may
be
40,
but
for
me
he
will
always
be
that
26-year-old
boy
who
came
to
my
office
one
hot
afternoon
13
years
ago
and
became
a
part
of
my
life.

Photographs
curated
by
Manisha
Kotian/Rediff.com