Rajit Kapur: I almost refused Raazi as I had no dates

Actor Rajit Kapur, who plays Alia Bhatt’s on-screen father in Raazi, was very impressed with the screenplay he received from director Meghna Gulzar.

Actor Rajit Kapur believes that luck played a big part in him landing the role of Alia Bhatt’s onscreen father in Raazi, directed by Meghna Gulzar. He says, “When I first met Meghna, the dates didn’t work out. I said, ‘I am sorry, I don’t have the time to do this film. If it’s meant to be, it will be.’ After some time, one of the chief assistant directors got back and said,‘Our schedule has changed’. In the new schedule, every date that we wanted was available, and that’s when it came true about it being meant to be.”

Rajit Kapoor has been seen in films such as Baar Baar Dekho (2016) and Begum Jaan (2017).

Known best for playing detective Byomkesh Bakshi in the TV show of the same name in the ‘90s, Rajit feels that Raazi is one of the best films he has been offered. He says, “Working on the film was absolutely amazing, and we worked more as a team. I don’t think I have ever received such a complete screenplay in many years. So, I believe that was the biggest trump card. There was so much homework that had been done, so much research, every word, dialogue, and visual image so beautifully captured on paper; I don’t see how it could go wrong. It was such a good team of actors, with such a brilliant cameraman.”

Rajit has been seen in quite a few supporting roles, such as a priest in Sidharth Malhotra-starrer Baar Baar Dekho (2016) and Arjun Kapoor’s dad in Ki & Ka (2016). On whether the length of a role matters to him, the actor says, “It doesn’t bother me at all. It depends on what you do with even one scene. I remember when I saw the rough cut of Ghulam (1998), I saw this one flashback scene and I said, ‘Who’s this amazing actor?’. It was Ashutosh Rana! It was just one scene, which proves that it’s enough to showcase the presence, potential, and talent of a person, provided the scene is written well. Agar main sirf chashme aur kapde pehen ke khada rahoon, that won’t mean anything (If I just wear a pair of glasses and clothes and stand for the scene, it won’t mean anything). It has to have some substance in it.”

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