The audience wasn’t the only one surprised to see Rajeev Khandelwal as an antagonist in Bloody Daddy. It turns out the actor was equally surprised that director Ali Abbas Zafar envisioned him as the sly Narcotics Control Bureau officer Sameer Singh. So much so that Khandelwal was initially hesitant about taking up the role.

“I know that people have an image of me [as the good guy]. So, to essay the role of a baddie with that [notion] in my head was difficult. Subconsciously, I thought I may not be able to convince people that I am sly and manipulative. But Ali was sure that it would be interesting to have me play this role. Shahid [Kapoor, leading man] said the same thing when I met him on the set,” says the actor.

It looks like Khandelwal was fated to be a part of the project, which is an adaptation of the French film, Blanche Nuit (2011). He reveals that the Hindi adaptation was offered to him before, where he was to play the lead.

The people, who had the film’s rights, wanted me to co-produce it too. I refused because I didn’t want to produce at that stage of my career. After imagining myself as the [protagonist], it was challenging to portray a character from the antagonist’s perspective.”

Even harder was pulling off a five-minute hand-to-hand combat scene with Kapoor. Khandelwal shares that he ended up injuring himself severely while filming the set-piece. “It was one of the high points of the film, and would be shot over three days. On the day of the shoot, I ended up having a ligament and meniscus tear. At the time, I didn’t know the severity of the injury. I put a lot of ice packs, and thought I could have another go at the scene after talking to the physiotherapist. But Ali and Shahid asked me to rest.”

While the team was ready to push the shoot, Khandelwal insisted on filming the sequence. “After that, I couldn’t even get up. By evening, I had to get an MRI done and was told that surgery was the only option. When I insisted on completing the scene, they said I could stand and sit with the help of a knee brace. Next day, I wore the brace, and finished the entire fight sequence.”