Udaan (2010), directed by Vikramaditya Motwane, remains a cult film in Hindi cinema, so much so that it became actor Rajat Barmecha’s calling card too. But a successful debut doesn’t guarantee smooth sailing, he says.

The actor did many projects such as the film Shaitan (2011) and series Girl In The City (2016) after his Bollywood debut, but none of them managed to impress as much as his first outing. He says, “The journey hasn’t been smooth. Every actor has a different journey, whether they start with a successful film or a bad one. I had two journeys after Udaan — professional and personal.”

Elaborating on his work journey, the actor says, “My professional journey had a lot of ups and downs. But I really grew as a person and an actor. I gained so much experience. Udaan was such a landmark film; I didn’t want to choose projects that people would watch and say, ‘He was good in Udaan but didn’t perform well after that’. My choices have been less, but I tried my best to pick good ones.”

The selective approach towards movies exists even now. The 34-year-old was recently seen in the web film Kacchey Limbu (2022) alongside actor Radhika Madan. Since he travels frequently, he almost lost out on this one.

“A couple of people were trying to get in touch with me via social media. I normally try to avoid such queries on that medium and didn’t take it seriously as I was backpacking. But then I got a call from a producer friend who said their team was trying to contact me and asked if I would like to read the script. I fell in love with the character and met with the director after coming back from my trip. He said, ‘I don’t know if I will make a good film, but I will make an honest one. So, I was game,” Barmecha ends.