Top 55 Rajkummar Rao Quotes

I was fortunate to work with some of the talented filmmakers of our industry. In addition, one film leads to another. As a newcomer, I explored those opportunities.

I have always taken risks. I like doing films which are different.

I love playing different and challenging characters on screen, and Newton is one such role. But I’m someone who doesn’t think so much about what will happen next.

After finishing my study in Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), I was mentally prepared for the struggle in the film industry.

I don’t know when I’ll ever get a chance to be all alone in a film.

Though ‘Shahid’ was the only true story, what happened in ‘Trapped’ can happen to anyone. And I am sure there are people like Newton, and there are boys who are naive, sweet, and rowdy, like my part in ‘Bareilly’… The humanness is something I loved.

I am a greedy actor: I want all the scripts to come to me. So I do all the good films which come my way, even if it means I’ll rest a little less.

I always feel secure. I can’t be a pure actor if I feel insecure. I can’t let other things take over my love for acting. For me, it’s a giving art. It is not something which I am doing for myself. I am doing it for my co-actors, unless it is something like ‘Trapped’.

No, nothing much has changed in me as an actor. Since the day I started out, I always wanted to be part of good stories. The only thing that has changed is now I have options of good stories to choose from.

‘Stree’ is a horror comedy in which a bridal ghost who is back in town to take revenge from men, she is the one giving a lot of pain to the men. We have reversed the role, which is such an amazing feeling.

Good actors have always supported each other’s performances in a film, and the same happened in ‘Bareilly Ki Barfi.’ We all supported each other throughout.

I take my work very seriously, but I don’t take myself seriously.

I’m sure that both me and Sushant will collaborate on something exciting very soon.

I try to bring all my sincerity to the character I play. That way, I am dedicated.

Acting, for me, is giving to your co-actors.

There was a phase where nothing was going right, and the thought crossed my mind that what is going to happen. Since I had no Plan B, I was sure from the beginning that I love acting and this is what I want to do for the rest of my life, so I had to be ready to struggle.

The kind of films I am doing are moderately budgeted and are with A-listers.

People took notice of me and saw that I can carry off light-hearted roles as well. They started talking about Pritam Vidrohi, and it became a lovable character; I saw that people were clapping and whistling. It was a big high to watch this kind of reaction.

I have immense respect for Nitesh sir and really admire his work. He’s one of my closest friends in the industry, with whom I can have a heart-to-heart chat.

It’s very tough for someone who doesn’t have a filmi background to get work in Bollywood. It’s not a smooth ride unless you are really lucky. But I think one has to be prepared for that.

In Delhi, I became a serious stage actor. Then, luckily, the FTII acting course began, and I studied there, spent some time working on my craft. In 2008, I moved to Mumbai, and then in one and a half years of so-called struggle, I got my first film, ‘Love Sex aur Dhokha’ (LSD).

People in the industry know that FTII students have a different and an honest approach towards work. The place gave me a voice and the ability to see things from a different perspective.

I want to keep running. I don’t ever want this journey to finish. And for that to happen, you can’t put too much of your brain in doing things and can’t connect too many dots because, anyway, there is no guarantee of anything.

I knew that I was just one of those actors who came to Mumbai to achieve their dreams. I knew that nobody would welcome me with open arms and auditions were the only way to get a chance.

In ‘Stree’, I had a great time working with the whole team and Dinu, being the producer and one of the most important people. And now we are doing another film together, and I’m sure there will be a couple of more films in the future.

People will invest in you only if they see some kind of return, and that’s the dark truth.

My parameter of judging a script has not changed over the years. I still go for a script where the story interests me. Yes, there are times where I might go wrong; say, out of five scripts, I might go wrong on one.

I don’t really think about the box office, but I want my films to do well.

There is a sense of responsibility when you play a real-life character because there are people who will see your work, make comparisons, and judge you. They have all the rights to do that because they know the real person. They might have seen that person also.

We are seeing how people we have looked up to and were inspired by in our work have suddenly just gone because there are such serious allegations against them. I really don’t know why it is not happening here.

I have picked ‘mainstream’ films only because there is a story, and there are lovely people attached to it. That’s a conscious decision always for me. What’s the point if there is no story to tell?

It’s a one-day story of a guy called Newton Kumar, and the backdrop is election: how the most powerful tool we have as citizens is vote but how we don’t utilise it. We really don’t give importance to it. It talks about democracy; it’s a satire, a black comedy.

Whenever I like a character or a script, I take up the project and leave the rest to the audience.

The process of playing a character as dark as Omar Saeed Sheikh is disturbing. So you have to mentally also be in that psyche, that state of mind. So, it was not easy. I was trying to cultivate a lot of anger and hatred in me while portraying him, because that’s what I read and heard about him.

It’s amazing how you get to recreate somebody else’s life on-screen. It’s wonderful when you get responses like, ‘You actually look like him.’

We’re just actors, man, just part of things. We’re just doing our jobs, like everyone else does their jobs. The adulation for us is much more because we are always in the public eye. But I never became an actor because I wanted people to scream out my name.

All the characters play an important role. For me, as an actor, for my character to come out so beautifully, I would give all the credit to my co-actors, directors and writers.

A lot of preparation was needed to play the character of Omar Sheikh in Omerta. I watched a lot of documentaries and hate speeches to cultivate anger in me.

Building a character – nothing gives me more high than the process of exploring someone else’s life on screen.

I am very proud of ‘Newton.’ It’s a wonderful film.

Whatever good is happening with ‘Newton’ is because of my mom’s blessings. I really believe in that.

When Raj and DK came and narrated me the script, the title was something else. But in conversation, I told them if we can name it ‘Stree’. In a way, I was the one who decided the title. I found that one word very catchy.

I chased my dream, worked hard for it, and now I am actually living that dream. This doesn’t happen to everyone.

I don’t know the reason why someone would not speak up about sexual harassment. I don’t know why it doesn’t happen here, but I am sure it exists not only in our industry, but every industry, it is there.

I don’t know how a hero feels, honestly. I feel like an actor; I wanted to be an actor. I always want to feel just like an actor. I don’t know this ‘hero’ term.

If I like a particular character or story, I usually say yes to the film.

I think media will tell me how many films I have done in 2018, same as they did in 2017. So, let’s see how it goes, but I don’t really keep a count. I love doing interesting work.

‘Stree’ is something fresh and new. Audiences want to see different kind of content on-screen, and ‘Stree’ is exactly that. It is a unique genre – horror-comedy – which has not been explored much in our country.

We have to address the safety of women, and that is of utmost importance right now. I would love to work only with people with ethics and the right moral conduct.

I don’t take pressure. I can’t really work under pressure. I do one film at a time, and I try to live in that character and in the moment. I am not a futuristic person who thinks what is going to happen after five years. And I don’t live in the past.

I have to finish ‘Behen Hogi Terim’ and then get right into that zone to seriously start preparing for it. It is a huge responsibility to play Netaji.

‘Newton’ has given a lot to our cinema.

I don’t think that now I am a star. I don’t get too much time to interact with people, and I am quite busy with work. I work. I come back home, and my loved ones are still the same. They will never change. And, I travel. I have not realised or internalised that life has changed.

A film like ‘Kai Po Che!’, ‘Queen’, ‘Behen Hogi Teri’ and ‘Bareilly Ki Barfi’ are not really independent films.

It is not that I am only looking at doing biopics. But of course, as an actor, I always love portraying real-life characters because there is so much challenge involved in recreating somebody’s life.