Until Bareilly Ki Barfi, people would see me as a ‘serious, dramatic’ actor: Rajkummar

Rao, who has had a stint with all kinds of roles, says ‘people love to put actors in boxes’; adds that ‘some kind of a shift’ happened in his career with Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari’s 2017 directorial.

Be it his ‘serious’ parts in films such as Shahid, Newton and Omerta; or ‘lighter’ outings in hits like Kai Po Che, Bareilly Ki Barfi (BKB; 2017) and Stree, he has successfully straddled between all kinds of roles through his decade-long Bollywood journey. But Rajkummar Rao readily admits that he was considered a ‘serious’ actor till BKB came along.

Rajkummar Rao will soon be seen in Anurag Basu’s Ludo alongside Fatima Sana Shaikh.

“People love to put actors in boxes, and are like, ‘if he/she has done a particular kind of work, then let’s give him more such parts.’ Till BKB released, people would see me as a ‘serious, dramatic actor’. But I, as an artist, never thought, ‘oh, I am going to do something very different.’ I knew that it was a great role for any actor – to portray a dual personality in a beautifully-written script,” says Rao, whose character, Pritam Vidrohi and his humourous undertones, became a talking point of the film.

Like trade pundits, Rao also feels that BKB gave a completely new twist to his career path. “To be honest, I feel, in a way, some kind of a shift happened in my career with BKB. And, what’s interesting is that I really enjoyed that space (fun) as well. Then, of course, Stree (2018) came along and lot of things changed. As for me, I’ve constantly learnt and grown. As an actor, that’s exactly what you want to do — play completely diverse parts in all your movies,” he says.

At the same time, the Gurugram boy — loved for his ‘serious, dramatic parts’ in films such as CityLights and Trapped maintaind that a “lot of mental and physical” goes into such roles. “For instance, if you are doing a biopic, then you meet the person and try to understand his mental psyche. I guess, more than physical, it’s a lot about going on that internal journey,” says Rao, adding that the “idea is to stay as true to your part as possible.”

But he admits that, at times, that’s not easy. “On the contrary, sometimes, that can be very tiresome. Fun, comedy-laden parts, on the other hand, are all about having fun with the lines on the sets. You have to let it flow, and enjoy,” says Rao, who will next be seen in films such as Chhalaang and Ludo, both of which will release on OTT platforms.