Actor Rajkummar Rao has won audiences over with his realistic performances. He is now looking for parts where he can push his boundaries and go all out to satiate his artistic hunger
Rajkumar Rao has earned his stripes as an actor with acclaimed performances in films such as Love, Sex Aur Dhokha (LSD), Kai Po Che, Queen, Shahid—for which he won a National Award
Image: Mexy Xavier; Wardrobe: Grey Suit- Bharat And Reshma, Turtle Neck - Zara; Styling: Anisha Jain
During the shooting of Bose: Dead/Alive in sultry Kolkata, director Pulkit was in a quandary. He felt the prosthetics that Rajkummar Rao, who was essaying the role of freedom fighter Subhash Chandra Bose in the 2017 web series, had to use would limit his performance. He expressed his apprehensions with the actor and suggested, almost expecting a refusal, that he should shave his head for a partially bald look.
“I knew it was impractical for a mainstream actor to do that as they do multiple things together. Raj requested me to give him a couple of days. And he got back, saying, baal udaa dete hai (let us get rid of the hair). He made my life so easy,” recalls Pulkit, who goes only by his first name. “I told him on set that an actor like Rajkummar spoils a filmmaker.”
(This story appears in the 31 December, 2021 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)