Omerta: I wanted to explore that evil genre, says Rajkummar Rao

Rajkummar Rao talks about Omerta, how his life and career have changed post Newton and much more.

Bollywood actor Rajkummar Rao loves all the attention he is getting, and says he is overwhelmed with his increasing number of female fans.

Rajkummar Rao in a still from Hansal Mehta’s Omerta.

“I like attention. I like female attention as well. It is very overwhelming. I have seen that there is growth in the amount of people who used to like me and it has gone up thanks to the whole of last year. It is very encouraging also in a way... People like me, they are appreciating my work and the kind of films that I am doing,” Rajkummar said.

He entered the industry with an interesting role in 2010 with Dibakar Banerjee’s Love Sex Aur Dhokha and went on to cement his position in the industry with back-to-back powerful performances in films like Kai Po Che!, Shahid, Aligarh, CityLights, Bareilly Ki Barfi and Newton.

For Rajkummar, it is very important to reinvent with each project. “Otherwise it gets boring. Once you find your comfort zone and you keep working in that comfort zone, after a while it gets very boring. You have to keep evolving and keep growing. And growth only happens when you push yourself,” he said.

Last year in particular was good for Rajkummar as his film Newton became India’s official entry for the Oscars -- though it could not make it to the final list. So, does this validation add any pressure while picking projects? “The offers are more or less the same what it was earlier. My process hasn’t changed. I was being very selective even when I just started out with LSD and Ragini MMS. I always tend to choose some unconventional things in life,” he said.

The unconventional aspect stands true for his forthcoming project Omerta too. He will be seen bringing the life of a dreaded terrorist alive on the big screen with the Hansal Mehta directorial. It is based on British-Pakistani terrorist Omar Saeed Sheikh’s life. Presented by Swiss Entertainment and Karma Media, and produced by Nahid Khan, the film is releasing on April 20.

“I love taking risks. That is what I do as an actor. I love challenges. I want to push myself as an actor with every film and whenever it is possible I try to do that with all my characters. Omerta offered me something very unique, something which I have never done earlier in my life. It is a story of an evil mind and I wanted to explore that evil genre,” he said.

Getting into the psyche of a terrorist was not easy. “He is somebody I don’t connect with. I have no idea about his world. But I have to do it. It is my responsibility as an actor to do it. I started by reading a lot of books on terrorism, different groups and how they function,” he said, adding that he is not afraid to take risks due to the fear of failures.

Follow @htshowbiz for more