Veteran actor Paresh Rawal says that rejection is part of every actor’s life and it’s important to embrace it as it may come handy in future projects
Gayathri Menon (HINDUSTAN TIMES; February 13, 2020)

Be it in forms of roles such as Teja from Andaz Apna Apna (1994), Baburao from Hera Pheri (2000), or Manilal from Awara Paagal Deewana (2002), Paresh Rawal’s contribution to the Hindi film industry has been immense. Apart from his comical roles, the actor also manages to amuse one with his intense performances in films such as Sir (1993), Sardar (1994) and Tamanna (1999), to name a few. Rawal is also a popular face in the Gujarati and Hindi theatre circuits, and has been ruling hearts, be it on the big screen or on stage.

With great comical performances come funnier goof-ups. Remembering one such funny incident, the Padma Shri award-winning actor says, “I was part of this play which happened a long time ago. The goof-up that comes to my mind doesn’t involve me. There was this one scene, where there were two characters — one is holding a gun and the other is holding a knife. So, the guy with the gun was supposed to shoot the other actor but unfortunately, the sound effect didn’t play at the decided time. Now, the other actor, who was supposed to act as if he got hit by the bullet and died, acted on time and fell on stage. The audiences were confused and the whole scene was stuck for more than five minutes and it was quite funny. And then suddenly, came the sound of the bullet. It was all misplaced. We all were laughing and these kind of things happen all the time.”

Rawal, who was last seen on stage in his play, Kishan vs Kanhaiya, and after three decades of acting experience, says that learning never stops. “I am still learning the craft. The only thing that I can say is that one needs to work hard and must never lose focus. Rejection is part of the journey and it always comes handy in future,” he concludes.