Actor on reuniting with his ‘Queen’ and the Kapoors, and why his onscreen chemistry with Shraddha Kapoor is attracting attention
Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; June 11, 2018)


It has been a busy year for Rajkummar Rao. The actor started out with Hansal Mehta’s Omerta and with some big-ticket films — horror-comedy Stree opposite Shraddha Kapoor, Fanne Khan with Aishwarya Rai and Anil Kapoor, Mental Hai Kya opposite Kangana Ranaut and Ek Ladki ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga co-starring Sonam and Anil Kapoor — on the anvil, he is hardly complaining. Excerpts from an interview:

Last week, you and Kangana kicked off a month-long schedule of Mental Hai Kya in London…
It’s always great to work with good co-stars. Kangana and I have come a long way since our Queen (the 2014 Vikas Bahl directorial) days. She is one of the finest talents in the country with multiple National Awards and I’m glad we got to reunite. London is a lovely city but this time I will miss being in Mumbai during the monsoons.

You’re reuniting with Hansal with the tentatively-titled Swagat Hain…
Yes, but that is something we are still talking about. It will be (actress-girlfriend) Patralehkaa, Hansal sir and me again after Citylights (2014). Hopefully this new film will materialise soon.

Your film 5 Weddings with Nargis Fakhri seemed to appear out of nowhere. When did it happen?
I did that film more than two years ago. I hear it’s now releasing in India and I have nothing to say because it was only supposed to open in the US. I was told it was made primarily for an American audience. It took a long time to get the film ready.

You play a tailor in Stree, what was prep like for that role?
It seems easy from the outside but once you start practicing it, you realise how tough it is. You are constantly using your legs over the machine and it can get exhausting. It took me a while to get a hang of it but once I got it right I would do everything on my own. There was a tailor on set, but I preferred to do everything myself. Also, to play a guy from Madhya Pradesh, I interacted with the locals to get the accent right.

It is your first film with Shraddha Kapoor.
Shraddha is a lot of fun. It’s probably the most fun I’ve had on a film set. She is a hard-working girl and everyone who has seen the film has a lot to say about our onscreen chemistry.

After Dolly Ki Doli, you are reuniting with Sonam Kapoor on Ek Ladki...
That film is almost done. Sonam is a good friend and we share a unique bond. We sometimes catch up even when we’re not working on something together. Anil (Kapoor) sir is also a part of the film, with whom I’m working on Fanne Khan. His energy is infectious.

You arrived in the Hindi film industry without any connections. Now, you have multiple mainstream releases lined up.
I’m blessed that I got a chance to work with all these wonderful people. But there is nothing I know how to do besides acting. I want to do this forever and keep living my dream.