If Ayushmann Khurrana’s Badhaai Ho (2018) sparked a dialogue about sexual desire of those in the autumn of their lives, its sequel Badhaai Do will address another important subject through leads Rajkummar Rao and Bhumi Pednekar. The actors recently wrapped up the shoot of the Harshvardhan Kulkarni-directed film in north India.

Rao, who plays a cop on screen nine years after Talaash (2012), says his character’s arc is different from his role in the Aamir Khan-starrer. “Talaash was a supporting part, where I played a regular Mumbai cop. Here, a lot more is attached to my character. There are things happening in his personal life that form the film’s [crux],” he says.

The upcoming comedy apparently explores the concept of lavender marriage — a union undertaken by individuals to hide their sexual orientation in a society that unfortunately stigmatises homosexuality. Rao playing a homosexual character in the movie contradicts rumours that he had previously turned down director Collin D’Cunha’s Dostana 2 because he was skittish about essaying a gay character on screen. 

“Someone said I didn’t want to play a gay character?” he asks, surprised, before adding that he has constantly strived to push the envelope with his movies. “I would love to play all kinds of roles and be part of different stories. I have played a goofball, a terrorist, a lawyer and so on. There’s no part I will decline. Right now, I am so excited about my line-up of movies.”