Although you were a part of many mega movies, you made your debut as a lead in ‘G Kutta Se’. How did you bag the film?
If I talk about how I got my first film ‘G Kutta Se’, it is going to be a very filmy answer. My friend and I were just walking down the lane where I happened to meet the director of the film, Rahul Dahiya, and the creative director of the film, Danish. They saw me and stopped to ask me if I can audition for the film. How serious can you be for a project that you bagged on the street? So, I didn’t take it seriously and didn’t go for the audition. I got a call from Danish, the creative director, after five days asking why I hadn’t come for the audition, and told me that it’s a good film and that I should come.
To be honest, I was really not very excited about it because I had no hopes. I went there, met the director, and heard the story from him. He’s a phenomenal guy, a mentor and now he’s like a brother to me. But at that time, when I met him, the only one thing he told me was, ‘Rajveer I’m going to read you this story, if you don’t like it, you don’t have to take it. You don’t have to say anything. I just want you to listen to this story because the role that I’m offering you is something that people don’t get that even after doing five good films. It’s that great a role’. I heard the story and I was blown away. I thought it was a beautiful film and now it was just a matter of how they’re going to make it. And once it was made and I saw the final result, it was just phenomenal!
What kind of reactions did you get for your performance in the film?
So ‘G Kutta Se’ was something that I never thought would turn out to be the way it turned out to be because we didn’t get that many screens when the movie got released. We got only 170 screens and all of them were evening shows and the movie was released with Salman Khan‘s movie ‘Tubelight’ so we didn’t get too much attention in terms of media and the theatres. However, hardcore movie fanatics loved the film. The word-of-mouth kept it going. The movie did really well. I got really good reviews from everyone for my performance in the movie. Not a single person, who had seen the movie, came and told me that it was a boring or was not a relevant film. It was a beautiful film and I’m absolutely proud that I started my career with it.
What kind of offers did you get after the success of ‘G Kutta Se’?
If you see ‘G Kutta Se’, it’s very real raw and it’s based in Haryana. It just shows you a picture of Haryana in a very raw and very realistic way. The problem was that even though I played the lead, my character had shades of grey. So, I started getting similar roles. There was no soul in the roles that I was offered. I didn’t feel great about it and that is the reason I kept myself away for a bit because I didn’t want to do anything for the sake of it. I got offered a few big films and also small roles in big films. But then again, for me, it’s not the length. It’s the quality and the reason why I’m in the film which is important. If I’m there in the film or even five minutes, but it makes a difference, it’s good. But if I’m in a firm throughout but it doesn’t make a difference then that’s not something that I was looking forward to doing. So I got a lot of roles that were like that and it was a very hard decision to take because you are saying no to the only source of income that you have and you’re not making money from anywhere else.
How did ‘Ek Duaa’ come your way?
The director of ‘Ek Duaa’, Ram Kamal Mukherjee is a dear friend; we used to meet on and off and one day he called me for a coffee and told me he has a story that he wanted to narrate to me. So we ended up meeting for the same. After ‘G Kutta Se’, it was the first time that I really got excited about a film like that and it’s not because of the way my role is or if I’m the central character. It was because the movie was beautiful and it had a socially relevant subject. So I had to make a decision and while I was making the decision, I was just putting all these things in my head and I was thinking, what do I want a project to look like, do I want a project to be all fancy. A subject like ‘Ek Duaa’ moved me again because I have a daughter and this film addresses the issue of gender discrimination in such a beautiful way. It is very important; when my daughter grows old, I’d need her to see the film so that she knows that her father was doing well in terms of choosing the right stuff to do and make a change in whatever way I can.
How is Esha Deol as an actor and as an individual?
Esha Deol, as an actor, has grown and evolved so much over the years. She has come back to films after such a long time. You’ll be surprised by her dedication and her work ethics. She’s a phenomenal human being and an amazing mother. It was her first movie as a producer. I just loved being a part of it. She’s a wonderful person, a great artiste, and an amazing co-actor. She helped me in whatever way she could and she made the whole environment very friendly and easy-going for us to work. I really want to thank her for the way she is.
You also met Hema Malini on the sets. What was it like?
So Hema ji, the kind-hearted person she is, would come and visit the set sometimes. I had just finished shooting for a scene one day and she happened to be visiting us on the set. It was almost the end of the day so she asked if she could meet the team after pack up. We all met. I spoke to her about my daughter and told her how I want to make my daughter proud and all those things. She was really kind. She also gave me some advice, saying, ‘Work hard and be the way you are and everything is going to work out’. She was very helpful and encouraging. When an all-time great actor says something like this to you, it is a beautiful gesture.
