Rajkummar Rao says he has no complaints about the ongoing lockdown; hopes that ‘we become better versions of ourselves’ once all of it is over
Prashant Singh (HINDUSTAN TIMES; April 22, 2020)

The ongoing Coronavirus lockdown may have brought along boredom and monotony but Rajkummar Rao “would rather look at the silver linings”. He says, “It’s great that people are spending time with their family. Otherwise, you’re just running around every day. I hope we all become better versions of ourselves by the end of this.”

The actor, on his part, feels he is “coping quite well with the lockdown”. “Of course, it goes without saying that I want to go back to work but I have no complaints at all. These are tough times and humanity is going through a pandemic,” he says, adding that he is spending time “watching some great stuff on OTT platforms, reading, as well as learning guitar”. “I’ve a proper schedule for my day (smiles),” he says.

In fact, Rao has been wanting to learn guitar for the last two years. “I never got the time. But now, I have enough free time, so I am taking online sessions/tutorials,” says the Gurugram (Haryana) boy, adding that he is in “constant touch” with his family. “In fact, since I have all the time in the world now, I am talking to them all the more on a daily basis,” he says.

Is he missing going out? “Yes, I am but only to my film’s sets, and not for partying or hanging out,” he says, adding that when things get back to ‘normal’, he would like to “go back to work and meet my team”. “Then, of course, there are close friends and loved ones who I have to catch up with. Since I love chaats etc., I’d like to try pani puris, too, though I am on a very strict diet (smiles),” he says.

Work-wise, since Rao had finished work on all his films such as Chhalaang, Roohi Afzana and Ludo, he “fortunately has no incomplete films. “But I was supposed to sign a few. So, let’s see,” he says. And lastly, ask him how his girlfriend, actor Patralekhaa is coping with it all and he says: “Patralekhaa is rocking. She is busy sketching, painting and cooking a lot.”
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Watch, sleep, repeat!
“I have been catching up on so many different kinds of stuff such as the latest season of Money Heist, The Outsider, Imtiaz (Ali) sir’s She and Tiger King. Plus, I’ve also watched interviews of some of the great filmmakers as well as actors, on YouTube. Then, there’re book such as Rebecca Solnit’s Men Explain Things To Me; and Autobiography of a Yogi that I read. So, I’m keeping myself creatively busy.”