Rajesh Kumar, who plays Aneet Padda’s father in Saiyaara, on being part of a blockbuster, “I can’t believe the response the film is getting” : Bollywood News

Actor Rajesh Kumar has been appreciated for his performance of a calm-headed father of Aneet Padda in the recent blockbuster Saiyaara. The actor spoke in detail about his experience of doing the film and more in an interview with us.

Rajesh Kumar, who plays Aneet Padda’s father in Saiyaara, on being part of a blockbuster, “I can’t believe the response the film is getting”

Saiyaara is a blockbuster. How does it feel?
I’m telling you sir, I’m feeling so, it’s a surreal experience right now. My 26th year in the film industry, one final blockbuster. We have rhythm in life of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni Sa. For me, that has got completed with one Sa, which was Sa Ra Bhai Vs Sa Ra Bhai and Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni Sa is Saiyaara. So, it’s like a full circle and I can’t believe right now the response Saiyaara is getting. I feel that this is the best way we can emote when the whole story is so human, it’s believable and it’s admirable and yet it’s entertainment. So, a complete package of masala Bollywood film and me being part of it, I just, there are hardly any words I have. I can only thank the Almighty, I can thank everyone for it.

What was your reaction when Mohit Suri offered you the role?
Oh, I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you the funniest story. I’ll tell you how the casting happened because that was the funniest part. I was having lunch with my wife in one of the restaurants close to my house. Then I come back home around 4 in the evening, I get a call from Yash Raj saying that we want to test you for the girl’s father. So, how are you available? I said, fine. Then I went and I did my audition. I took my wife, you know, because I wanted her to give the cues. She is also an actor but out the industry for quite long. So, I told her to help me out in giving the reaction because many of the people who give the cue, you know, sometimes do not land up the way you can better your performance. So, I asked her to help me out.

We went, we gave the thing and after a week or so, I get a call that Mohit Suri wants to meet you. I said, fine enough. And then when I went, then Mohit Suri was telling me that, you know, sir, how did you get cast? I said, how? He said, you were having lunch with your wife and we all were sitting there. I said, okay, it was you guys because I saw you there. So, he said, yeah. And at that very time, he got a call from the casting that there is an actor, Rajesh Kumar. Can we test him for Aneet’s father? And Mohit said that he is sitting right in front of me and he looks perfect to the role. So, please go ahead and then cast it. So, I was at the right time, I was at the right place. So, my reaction was that I am now relevant and I am part of this Gen Z world in a different role.

What were the two newcomers Ahana Pandey and Aneet Padda like?
Oh, they were sweethearts, they were darlings. I mean, they did not have any kind of baggage and that was the best part. Plus, the relationship which I tried to build with my daughter Aneet was because she belongs to Amritsar and she is very fluent in Punjabi. So, when we were talking about this character being Mr. Batra being from Punjab and speaking a little bit of Punjabi, I said, I am, you know, I will have to do a workshop because if you want me to be fluent enough.

So you had to work on your Punjabiyat?
Mohit said that you do not have to do any workshop because your daughter is hardcore Punjabi and she knows it so well, she will help you out. So, the very first day when I met for the very first shot, I just, before going for the shoot or the shot, you know, I just approached her and I said, ‘Aneet, help me out in my Punjabi, speak the dialogues before I speak so that it is there in my ear and at least the authenticity of being a Punjabi comes out’. Aneet’s first shot was with us and with me and Ahaan’s very first shot was with me but that was a very silent moment we had.

But these kids, they knew what to do and they were so much dependent on Mohit’s vision that they never came up with any doubts. So, no one thought anything except what Mohit is thinking. So, what is his vision and how am I contributing to his vision? That’s the beauty of this whole film. I consider this film as the most inclusive film which has happened and everyone was working for the film, not for, you know, how their character will be, how their reaction will be, how their acting will be or what, you know, the insecurities we come with.

So, these two youngsters, they were completely, completely secure about what they were doing because they all relied on Mohit Suri so much that, you know, the belief spoke loud and we all were part of it. So, these two kids, they are gem of the kids. They are very well groomed, brought up and they are prepared. They are ready to take over Bollywood in a big way. So, I would say that they were born stars the day they were selected for this film.

 

Do you consider Saiyaara a game-changer in your career?
This is not the first successful film. Success in terms of business, if I say, Teri Baaton Mein Uljha Jiya was the successful film I was part of but the things were not talked about so much and I was just part of it. So, you know, how does it feel to be part of entertainment for so long? I mean, I feel, you know, I am always on my toes because I always want to be relevant in all the generations. Thankfully, the kind of work I have done in television and now what I am doing in films and OTTs, it’s keeping me, you know, at par with the evolving industry right now.

So, we used to have very good shows in early days of television and then we had, you know, daily soap taking over television and, you know, the writing little bit suffering, the quality little bit suffering because we had to cater every day. So, from weekly to bi-weekly to daily soap and then that kind of work which we were doing in weekly and bi-weekly is as good as what we are doing today in OTT and it’s better when we do a film.

So, I have been part of this industry for so long and I only feel that I am like, you know, relevant to the subjects which are being made today. I am now relevant as, so, you know, I was thinking if I can say that I have got a character which, you know, at least I am making some good place for myself where variety of roles are also happening and I can be, you know, I would say a good father. At the same time, I can also play negative because the age is, you know, it has come where little bit of maturity has come on my face.

Do you feel the entertainment industry has been fair to you?
Absolutely, I feel the industry has been completely fair to me because the choice of work I had when I was doing television definitely. Films happened pretty late for me. So, I won’t say they were unfair to me but yeah, I think there was a conscious decision of those 4-5 years of me doing farming and not working in films. But when I came back, I think I was, those 5-6 years of gap made me very matured and broke whatever I had done earlier in television and I could discover a new Rajesh within me and that’s what I am trying to play.

I have become more human, I have become more spiritual, I am more emotional today and more inclusive today and that’s how I work. So, whatever role is given to me, I am so much part of it that instead of saying that, you know, the industry was not fair to me, I would say that I am a very good product of industry because this industry does need you to be patient, does need you to always be on toes, you cannot be complacent with anything. And plus, it does give you a fair chance and that’s what I feel about industry.

Which have been your most memorable experiences?
All the experiences which I have right now in the second inning, I would say, I am having the best of the memories because I am working with so many debutants, I am working with so many A-listed directors. I am just experimenting and people are letting me experiment from playing Liaqat Ali Khan in Nikhil Advani’s Freedom at Midnight to playing Binny’s father in Binny & Family to playing Aneet’s father in Saiyaara and some more roles which are very different in Anurag Kashyap’s film and Amit Rai’s film which we are going to see in next couple of months, so I am enjoying. I think all the experiences are memorable right now.

Do you consider Saiyaara a game-changer in your career?
The film, you know, the best part is that whenever I go on the set, people still, you know, they have seen me working but they still cannot get over Rosesh (in Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai). So, all I can say is the Mama’s boy has turned into Universal Papa. Thank you, thank you and if I can only once talk to you Subhash sir because I have not heard your voice yet and I am still waiting for that one phone call. Thank you so much for considering me all the time and putting up all these beautiful questions.

Also Read: Rajesh Kumar recalls overcoming Rs 2 crores debt after failed farming venture, finding inspiration in Amitabh Bachchan’s story: “My son would ask his teachers to buy vegetables from me”

More Pages: Saiyaara Box Office Collection , Saiyaara Movie Review

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