To Rajkummar Rao, Raj-DK (Raj Nidimoru, Krishna DK) are friends first, then collaborators. The opportunity to be directed by them, coupled with an exciting story, made Guns & Gulaabs an instant choice for the actor. “While Raj-DK were my co-producers and writers on Stree [2018], this is the first time they directed me. They are two of my closest people in the city. We had been meaning to work together for a long time,” he smiles.

Rao is known for seeking novel stories, and Guns & Gulaabs didn’t disappoint on that count. The Netflix crime comedy, also starring Dulquer Salmaan and Adarsh Gourav, has all the ingredients of a Raj-DK offering—oddball characters and quirky humour tied neatly into an engaging narrative. “There have been many serious crime and investigative dramas, but sometimes you need a break. You just want to sit and laugh out loud at bizarre things, and nobody does that better than Raj-DK,” says the actor.

In the upcoming series, he plays Paana Tipu, a love-struck mechanic with a violent streak. The actor credits Raj-DK and their writing team for conceiving a screenplay that gave him enough scope to explore his character’s eccentricity. “When you get great material and fabulous [collaborators] like Raj and DK, it becomes easy. You just have to push yourself a little and do something that you haven’t done earlier. If you aren’t here to just say lines and if you do your job for the right reasons, you get the results.”

But hard work doesn’t always assure you of great box-office results. Since the pandemic, there has been a shift in viewing patterns of the audience, who prefer watching tentpole movies on the big screen and content-led offerings on OTT. Rao looks at the upside of the situation, pointing out that with streaming services, actors don’t need to depend on box office to achieve stardom.

“For instance, I was blown away by Suvinder Vicky’s performance in Kohrra. For me, he is a star. It doesn’t matter to me if 1,000 people have watched Suvinder Vicky’s work or only 400 have, but he is one of the best actors we have today. The same thing happened with Jaideep [Ahlawat] in Paatal Lok [2020] and Pratik Gandhi in Scam 1992 [2020]. Manoj sir’s [Bajpayee] second innings started with The Family Man, and today, he is right up there.”