Rajkummar Rao: Star Power

As a star, what can one do apart from earn a packet? Embracing progressive cinema could be a start, especially in an industry so devoid of such issues. So, it is good to have actors such as Rajkummar Rao who think beyond their own roles and look at the big picture. His last few films have done that as well, whether it is Badhaai Do (2022) where he played a gay man, or Bheed (2023) where he took on the caste system. This year alone, he starred in Srikanth where he showed the ability of the disabled and Mr and Mrs Mahi where he chased his passion, even if second hand. In Stree 2, he reprises his role as Vicky, the ladies’ tailor, who has to save the women of Chanderi from being held captive because of a new monster called Sarkata. The headless monster preys on women with autonomy, whether it is in their views, their academics, their love lives or their social media profiles. “I believe in cinema for entertainment but also for social commentary. But it has to be done skillfully without giving direct gyaan [knowledge] to the audience, or sounding preachy,” says Rao. “I look for the hidden treasures my writer has in the script,” he adds. In Stree 2, the message is very clear: in a society divided by hatred, it is love alone that can save us. Men and women have to join together to do that. “Whenever I get a chance, I try to endorse such films and get them out to a wider audience,” he says. He works hard but makes sure he takes at least two weeks off between movie shoots to go on holidays. Otherwise, he and his wife Patralekha live a quiet life with their three Yorkshire Terriers, watching a movie a day. Sometimes they have red carpet events, says Rao. “It is an effort but sometimes it is unavoidable. Stylists give us beautiful clothes and we wear them,” he says simply. Rao says he has got a lot of feedback for Stree 2’s box-office success—it has made `400 crore and counting on day 12. “It feels good. I think people see me as one of them because I came to Mumbai with nothing and did not grow up with money. Many actor friends told me it feels like a personal victory for them,” he says. The big screen is transparent. “People can see through fakery,” says Rao.

Boyhood

The son of a corporate executive father who spent time abroad and an interior designer mother, Kesav Binoy Kiron’s background seems quite similar to that of the character he plays in his debut film, this year’s Girls Will Be Girls. Here, Kiron plays the role of Sri, a charming teenage boy. Except that he is a boy who thinks he is a man but is actually a boy, says Kiron. “A lot of ADs [assistant directors] came up to me and said my character is a jerk, just like their former boyfriends,” he says with a laugh. Kiron, who is a graduate in computer science engineering from Manipal University in Jaipur, plays a Class 12 boy who has just transferred to a boarding school after years spent abroad with his diplomat father. He befriends a young girl in school, a straight A student, and the school’s head girl. Their relationship is complicated by both her young mother, whom Kiron manipulates, and the school’s strict no mixing rule. There is a horrifying end to it, which involves a mob of boys chasing the girl across the campus, a supposed safe space. “It is something I’ve been thinking about,” says Kiron, given what happened in Kolkata at the RG Kar Hospital. “We have to start educating boys from school,” says Kiron, who is gearing up to play an Indian IT professional in America who is battling a gambling addiction, in Saanvi, a movie directed by Arun Konda. Kiron has been auditioning for roles and honing his skills with workshops such as at the Adishakti Laboratory for Theatre Art Research, Puducherry, where he has been learning about the importance of breath and the exercise of facial muscles.

Rewind

Remember a time when a picnic would be part of the movies? It was where young people could get together without the fear of disapproval. It was where there was music, cricket, cycling, food, and exchange of glances between the happy couple. The last two films I remember watching with a picnic in it were Hum Hain Rahi Pyaar Ke (1993) and Hum Saath Saath Hain (1999). But for a generation of moviegoers, Shammi Kapoor making googly eyes at the heroine at a picnic was a must. ‘Husn chala kuch aisi chaal’ from Bluff Master (1963), folks?

About The Author

Kaveree Bamzai

Kaveree Bamzai is an author and a contributing writer with Open

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