Rajesh Shringarpure swamped by fan calls

Rajesh Shringarpure is having a tough time managing fan calls these days. Ever since of Saarthi became Somji of Sarkar Raj, the handsome actor is finding it difficult to get any personal time. Add to that the additional controversy over the fact that his character is based on the life of Raj Thackeray, and you will understand why he is happy and worried at the same time.
Rajesh had to change his looks completely for the film. "Ramu ji (Ramgopal Verma) insisted that I get out of my old look and have a new hairstyle. In fact, we had a dedicated hairstylist to take care of my look throughout the shooting. It was a great experience working with him. I even modulated my voice for this film. In fact, the entire crew of Sarkar Raj was so professional...,” remembers a happy Rajesh.

Didn't he have butterflies in his stomach while sharing screen space with the Bachchan family? "To be honest, yes. However, Mr. Bachchan (Amitabh) made the ambience so comfortable that I never had any issues. In addition, whenever we had a shot together, I just stopped thinking that I was sharing screen space with a living legend. And acted normally," says Rajesh. "Recently there has been this controversy on my character resembling Raj Thackeray. Let me tell you that throughout the shooting there was no such discussion and during the briefing Ramu ji never told me that my character was based on anyone."

How did he get the role of Somji? "After Saarthi, I was feeling a bit monotonous and had gone to meet Ramu ji. To my surprise, he knew about me and after an initial discussion, he offered me this role. I was overjoyed and didn't know how to react. I consider myself lucky to have got an opportunity to work with such a talented director," says Rajesh who has also been offered a role in Ramgopal Verma's next film.

Reporter and Author: Srabanti Chakrabarti