Rajkummar Rao | AFP
Rajkummar Rao talks about his latest film, Made In China, acting in commercial movies and his role in the Netflix production, The White Tiger.
What interested you about Made In China?
It was the story, about a Gujarati businessman who is a failure but refuses to give up. He just wants one thing in life—to be a successful entrepreneur. I was totally invested in the part.
From doing indie films, you have turned to doing commercial ones in the last two to three years. Was this a conscious shift?
No. These were stories which I was really excited to be part of. It was never like, ‘I should do these films now’. I found the stories of films like Bareilly Ki Barfi or Stree funny and exciting. There was scope for an actor to perform in these films and they were not just about the jokes. They had character-driven stories. I love playing [varied] characters onscreen. That was the only reason to choose these films and not because I wanted any kind of shift. Newton also did well commercially, but that was an indie film. But that is the change cinema is going through.
Were you ever scared that acting in indie films would confine you to that space?
What does indie mean? They are the small budget films. But even [filmmakers] Amar (Kaushik, Stree) and Mikhil (Musale, Made In China) have come from that space where things are supposed to be real. They are also very passionate about making films.The same with Ashwini (Iyer Tiwari). Her first film was Nil Battey Sannata. These filmmakers do not think that they should do this because it is going to work. I could totally relate to them.
You are doing around three to four films a year. Do you ever worry that the audience will tire of you?
No. As long as the characters are different from one another, they do not bore me. And as long as the audiences are not saying that I am getting repetitive, I am fine with the way things are going right now. I am also greedy as an actor when a good script comes my way. Otherwise, somebody else will do it.
What is the progress of your next, The White Tiger?
The preparation is going on. I am taking up language and accent classes and doing reading sessions.