Q, How do you react to the way a newcomer pair have been accepted by the industry?
Rajesh: I’m absolutely numb and thrilled also. Both of them are just living the moment and it is unexpected but when you receive that kind of love in this industry that’s very usual. And these two have proved that talent doesn’t go unnoticed. Fresh faces with talent are much needed at this hour. So my reaction is that I’m super happy and I just hope and pray that their life continues to reward them.
Q. Working with Ahaan Panday– who has been waiting in the wings for a really long time for the right film how do you look at his future and of course as a co-star. is he different from the rest?
Rajesh: Future is not something you can predict that way, it is Ahaan’s first film, you enjoy the film without any expectations. Now in the second film there will be a more nervous energy, so as the future unfolds itself, I think their lives are going to be a roller coaster, with all kinds of highs and definitely curation of their career. A lot of things matter, so it’s very early to predict about their future. It won’t be a right thing to do as well. Having said that Ahaan and Aneet both have a secured future. They haven’t been launched here, they’ve been directly launched on the moon! They are actually stars.
Q. How did Saiyaara happen to you?
Rajesh: For me, Saiyaara happened in a funny way. I was having lunch with my wife in a restaurant, and I saw twenty or twenty five people sitting across in the restaurant, and I said to my wife that I think they are ad people. And I got a call from Yash Raj productions when I left the restaurant, and they said they wanted to test me, I went and I gave the test. A meeting was fixed with Mohit Suri and then Mohit told me that I was cast because of that lunch I was having with my wife and that at the same time they were having a conversation about me. He saw me then and there and he conveyed it to the casting people that I was the guy they were looking for and that they should test me. So it was like the right timing, I was sitting right there and somehow this worked out.
Q. How do you look at this phase of your career?
Rajesh: I think with age, roles are coming in, they didn’t come early, I mean I wasn’t cast into father roles early. Now when I’m fifty and my son is 17, now I’m father on screen to kids this age, it is a blessing, that’s there. But this phase of career few amazing things have happened, I’m part of a couple of films, where newcomers are being launched. So it started with Binni and Family, where Anjini was getting launched, then Saiyyara where these two are launched. Then I’m a part of a film with Anurag Kashyap, Nishanchy, even in that the boy is a new face. Then there is another film called Manu Kya Karega, even there a couple is getting launched. So this phase of my career, I think I have become a launch pad! I’m getting a variety of roles. I can’t reveal much about the characters I’m playing other than the father I’m playing in Saiyyaara because they are a highlight. So I’m getting a variety of roles in films and I’m enjoying it. I think I was waiting for this phase and this phase happened.
Q. How do you look at your career since 1999 shedding Rosesh image was it tough?
Rajesh: I have spent more than twenty five years in the industry, that has its own ups and downs. When I was doing television I was a part of the best of the television shows and now when I’m part of OTT, I’m part of the best shows. Be it Kota Factory, Yeh Meri Family, or Rana Naidu season 1. And in films too, I’m getting to do best of the films, now you have a blockbuster Saiyaara, Teri Baaton Mein Uljha Jiya. Couple of films lined up to release. I’m a part of Nikhil Advani’s Freedom at Midnight, where I have played Liyaqat Ali Khan and there is a second season coming up for that. So the platter is full of very good and meaty roles that I have done. Shedding of the image was tough but I said that now people are also accepting me in different characters, I think they are seeing a different side of Rajesh, not just Roshesh. I think Roshesh will always be there, I will always be Roshesh. Rajesh who? It is Roshesh. So I’m happy to live with that. People scrape their shoes wanting to make an image, an identity, so this is a blessing from above, that I received the chance to play a role that even now after twenty one years, is alive and makes me still relevant.
Q. I remember meeting you had just made a kind of comeback and talked about the set back in the farming business -selling vegetables outside son’s school-how are things now for you on the farming side?
Rajesh: farming side, things are definitely things are a standstill at this stage. But the farming that me and my father were doing in Bihar, that is still on. And there are a couple of things which are lined up with the farmers. So by end of this year or early next year, I’ll be back to farming in terms of the other side of farming. Like I have been with the farmers, now I will start to explore the market for the farmers. That whole process is on but it is on a low flame, it needs to stay that way for a little for it to cook a little more and then we will see results.
Q. How important is money to you?
Rajesh: Money is important to everybody. Hardly you will hear anyone say that it is not important. Yes, all your comforts, your thoughts, you day to day functioning everything relies on money and if you want to have a stress free life, money is a big part of it. Because everything is transactional and money is the only way you transact in the society today. Whether you want to book a cab or buy your own car, you need money for that. It is very important. And I need a lot of money. I have been manifesting that I need a lot of money!
Q. Rajesh Kumar, when you look back what do you see?
Rajesh: I see a very matured wine, who has the taste and buzz both, be it towards his art or humanity. I think I am a complete package in myself. I’m very good company to be with. I see myself as even when I’m alone, I’m the best company I can have. And apart from that, Rajesh has evolved over the years and the best work and the best phase of his career is happening now. It has started. So that’s how I see Rajesh.
Q. You have seen TV for over two decades. Has it evolved or is it getting regressive?
Rajesh: When we started television, 98-99, that time television was equal to films in terms of what we see on OTT today. In terms of how finite it is. It was it stressed for going on and on. Nowadays you see television and it’s about longevity. The show that runs for the longest is garnering popularity. Earlier the shows were finite, or even weekly, now you cannot have weekly shows, you have to have a daily, that too six days a week, so definitely the quality does suffer, because it becomes very difficult for the writer to keep the momentum of quality work happening. There are too many things that suffer, you can see the fatigue in television. And what do you say about it being repressive, I mean, yes the television has shaped itself in the last few years, where unnecessary friction is manufactured and created. That friction may not exist in our normal lives. So somewhere we are selling a dream. To make a story interesting we always have a villain arc that always exists. Good writing is needed. Not just the first ten to fifteen episodes. Any show must have a finite arc, from start to end, it’s shelf life is what should be written down. Then I think that’s television will evolve more.
Q. Ahaan keeps mentioning nepo kid in the film. Have you ever got a glimpse of a nepo kid in the career so far?
Rajesh: When Ananya was launched I was part of Student of the Year 2, Ahaan is launched in Saiyaara and I’m a part of that film too. So I don’t think these kids carry any kind of baggage when they are getting launched. They are even more nervous than us, even more insecure I would say. Because a lot is riding on their name, a lot is riding on the legacy that they are coming from. So they are definitely very well behaved. I worked with Tiger in Student of the Year 2, and we had no idea that he is astar. The way he met you, the way he listened to you and gave respect. I haven’t encountered anyone ill- mannered because they come from a legacy. I think everyone I worked with is very well behaved and their parents have given them really good values.
Q, I was looking at your IMDb and found that you have worked with Ananya in her launch film and now her cousin Ahaan. Anything common?
Rajesh: Both of them are very dedicated artists, they are ready to explore, ready to listen. You know when the director is not satisfied and you are in that scene, maybe you have given your best, but the actor in front of you is new, it is your job to make him feel comfortable, you have to be a part of that. For example, if he needs, twenty, fifty or even a hundred takes, this hasn’t happened by the way, I’m just giving an example, even if he needs that many takes you as a senior have to be very supportive. And the common thing about both these youngsters is that they are so well groomed in their art, that you don’t need too many takes for them. That’s true for them, from the very first shot. In fact, Ahaan’s first shot was with me and he was all ready for it. It didn’t seem like this was his first shot ever or that this was the first film he was doing. He was so well prepared. I think this is a common factor between both of them, they are very well groomed and they are very hard working.
Q. Sarabhai VS Sarabhai and Khichdi any update on this… that reminds me Rupali has become the topmost television actress thanks to Anupama.. Any plans of working together?
Rajesh: We don’t have any updates on Sarabhai as of now. Rupali and I, individually and as characters, whether the makers will understand this partnership, I don’t know but having said that, yes, why not work with Rupali. Rupali is such a fine actor. You always enjoy working with her. If something comes up then we will definitely work together.
Q. How important it is for an actor to re invent to remain relevant in today’s time?
Rajesh: Very much. Who is a better example than the best actor of the century, Amitabh Bacchan? In the age of eighty thee he is still a very relevant man, be it through KBC or through his acting. He reinvented himself and made himself relevant and is still today. It has been twenty five years of KBC now. This is something that you have to think of, there is no shelf life to an actor. I think as long as the actor is physically fit, has no kinds of diseases, is able to walk around, is talking well, the actor should keep reinventing himself. The Rajesh in twenties, or thirties, or even forties they have all evolved and is relevant to every phase. Sometimes some kinds of work come to you and sometimes you do the kind of work that keeps you relevant in those times. For example Sarabhai was one show because of which three generations have kept my name alive, that character I played has kept me relevant even today. When I turned fifty I reinvented myself, what kind of roles will I say yes or no to. So rather than playing uncles, if I get a father’s role, why won’t I do it? Because somewhere one has made a place for oneself as an actor and if people want you in a character, then they are going to use you in a way that the story needs you. This is relevance. The fact that I am in Saiyyaara today, and that I was in Sarabhai at one time. I think with time, as I said, that Rajesh Kumar is a matured wine now and the more people get a taste of it, the more the intoxicated they will feel.