‘For Me, It’s The Story, Director, Producer’

‘A
story
has
to
do
something
within
me
for
me
to
say
yes
to
it.’

Rajkummar
Rao
has
acknowledged
a
decline
in
parallel/art
cinema
movies
in
his
career
since
the
success
of

Stree
(2018).

Rao
is
considered
to
be
one
of
the
bankable
stars
of
India
today.
With
critically
acclaimed
performances
in

Shahid,
Aligarh
and

Trapped,
the
actor
quickly
made
a
name
for
himself
as
an
artist
who
could
maintain
a
balance
between
art-driven
films
and
mainstream
cinema.

But
post
the
success
of

Stree,
the
horror-comedy
that
became
a
surprise
hit
at
the
box
office,
Rao’s
filmography
took
a
noticeable
commercial
turn.

In
an
interview
with
ANI,
the
actor
admitted
that
the
parallel
cinema
films
like

Trapped
have
stopped
“reaching
him”
lately.

“Of
course,
as
an
actor,
I
love
doing
it
(movie
like
Trapped),
I
would
still
love
to
do
it,
but
those
kinds
of
stories
are
not
reaching
me,
to
be
honest,”
he
said.

However,
it’s
not
that
the
actor
has
turned
his
back
on
independent
cinema.
The
actor
said
he
doesn’t
prefer
to
desperately
chase
low-budget
films
just
for
the
sake
of
nostalgia.

“I
don’t
want
to
do
it
just
for
the
sake
of
it.
I
should
do
a
smaller
film
just
because
I
haven’t
done
it
in
a
while.
I
always
look
for
good,
exciting
stories,
and
a
story
has
to
do
something
within
me
for
me
to
say
yes
to
it,”
he
said.

He
shared
his
thought
process
before
selecting
the
film
and
said
it
is
based
on
three
factors.
A
film’s
budget
is
not
one
of
them,
he
added.

“I
never
see
the
budget
of
the
film,
how
big
is
this
film.
For
me,
it’s
the
story,
the
director,
and
the
producer;
these
three
things
are
the
only
things
that
matter
to
me
while
saying
yes
to
it,”
he
added.

He
will
be
next
seen
in

Maalik,
which
also
stars
Manushi
Chillar
and
Prosenjit
Chatterjee,
and
is
a
gangster
drama
directed
by
Pulkit.

It
will
be
the
first
movie
for
Manushi
in
2025.
Before
this,
she
had
worked
in
films
like

Samrat
Prithviraj,

The
Great
Indian
Family,

Operation
Valentine
and

Bade
Miyan
Chote
Miyan.

Manushi
first
garnered
headlines
after
she
won
the
Miss
World
beauty
pageant
in
2017.
With
this
accolade,
she
has
now
joined
the
list
of
Indian
actresses
who
have
ventured
into
Bollywood
after
making
their
name
at
beauty
pageants.

While
talking
to
ANI,
Manushi
opened
up
about
her
decision
to
enter
the
Bollywood
industry
and
not
continue
modelling
after
winning
the
Miss
World
title
in
2017
at
the
age
of
20
years.

“I
don’t
think
my
goal
was
ever
to
become
a
supermodel.
Hence,
probably,
I
never
thought
about
it.
I
was
studying
to
be
a
doctor.
I
went
into
pageantry,
and
Miss
World
was
a
big
dream,
which
came
true.
When
you’re
at
20,
when
you
have
a
platform
like
that,
then
you
want
to
see
what’s
next
and
you
want
to
build
a
career,”
Manushi
said.

“I
pretty
much
started
from
scratch
when
I
came
to
films,
and
I
am
building.
I
still
feel
my
career
started
three
years
ago,
because
that’s
when
my
first
film
was
released.
And
that’s
how
I
see
myself.
I
see
myself
as
a
newcomer
there.”

Maalik
is
set
to
release
in
theatres
on
Friday,
July
11.