It is a year of milestones for Rajesh Kumar. As the actor clocks in 25 years of his acting career, his popular show Sarabhai vs Sarabhai recently marked its 20th anniversary.
The actor, who recently wrapped up shooting for director Anurag Kashyap’s next, gets nostalgic as he looks back on his journey so far. Talking about one of his first appearances, he tells us, “I remember being offered a scene by (producer) Subrat Sinha for an episodic and took 21 takes just to say, ‘Happy marriage anniversary, yeh rahi aapki ticket’. They (makers) paid me 1,000 rupees and I was like, ‘Kya ho raha hai?’ Mujhe kuch pata nahin tha.”
Five years after that blink-and-miss appearance, the actor bagged Sarabhai vs Sarabhai and would go on to play one of his most iconic characters, Roshesh Sarabhai. Is there a memory that stands out to him? “Roshesh has a unique twang when he speaks. From the get-go, producer Aatish Kapadia wanted the character to speak slightly differently. He told me, ‘Roshesh bolega toh aise hi bolega’, so I had no choice but to own the character that way,” he laughs.
But it hasn’t always been easy. In 2017, Kumar stepped away from acting and took up farming. Ask what prompted the move and he replies, “One day, I just decided to quit. I left a thriving career and rented farming land in Maharashtra. Then a flood wiped out my hard work. Thela lagane ke din aa gye thhe.”
{{/usCountry}}But it hasn’t always been easy. In 2017, Kumar stepped away from acting and took up farming. Ask what prompted the move and he replies, “One day, I just decided to quit. I left a thriving career and rented farming land in Maharashtra. Then a flood wiped out my hard work. Thela lagane ke din aa gye thhe.”
{{/usCountry}}Now, having returned to acting, Kumar is more optimistic than ever, “In the last two years, I wrapped five OTT series and two films. I also have several projects in the pipeline. I am back to work doing what I love the most,” he ends.