Rajkummar Rao: Playing real life characters gives me real high.

He bagged a National Film Award when he
essayed the life of lawyer Shahid Azmi in
2013 film "Shahid". Now he is seen as Netaji
Subhas Chandra Bose in web series "Bose:
Dead/Alive". Actor Rajkummar Rao says
portraying somebody's life on-screen gives
him real high as he gets ecstatic over the
response he gets from fans.
Rajkummar is on a roll. He has just won two
Asia Pacific Screen Awards for his role in
"Newton", India's Oscar entry for the foreign
film category.
Always one to go an extra mile for his roles,
the Film and Television Institute of India
alumnus had to gain 13 kg and go half bald
for his role in "Bose: Dead/Alive", which is
available on Ekta Kapoor's digital app
ALTBalaji.
"There is a sense of responsibility when you
play a real-life character because there are
people, who will see your work, make
comparisons and judge you. They have all
the rights to do that because they know the
real person. They might have seen that
person also," Rajkummar told IANS here.
"Actually, playing a real-life character as an
actor gives me a real high because there is
so much of research material available in
front of you. It's amazing how you get to
recreate somebody else's life on-screen. It's
wonderful when you get responses like,
You actually look like him'," he added.
For Rajkummar, mental preparation for such
parts takes precedence over physical
transformation.
"For me, mental preparation is always more
important than the physical transformation.
I had to look like Netaji and was asked to
gain weight and go half bald, but the mental
preparation was more challenging as I had
to read a lot of books on his life. Also,
there's this autobiography on his life, which
I used to read on sets. I even spent a lot of
time at his house, Netaji Bhawan in Kolkata,"
Rajkummar said.
"It was fun -- the physical transformation. I
got to eat a lot. Usually, actors are required
to follow a proper diet and not eat anything
that they want. Also, shaving my head was
an easy decision for me," added the 33-year-
old.
There's an ongoing controversy over Sanjay
Leela Bhansali's "Padmavati" over
conjectured distortion of historical facts, but
Rajkummar says in his case for "Bose: Dead/
Alive", he had "all the creative freedom
which was required to play Netaji on-
screen".
"We didn't really think that we are making a
web-series, so we can portray him the way
we want. The script was always there. A
feature film could have easily been made out
of it, but Ekta chose to make a web series.
But my process of preparation didn't
change, I worked the same way like a film,"
he said.
Rajkummar is rising high with the success
of his films like "Behen Hogi Teri", "Bareilly Ki
Barfi", "Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana" and
"Newton".
"As an actor, I don't really think about
what's going to happen at the box office
because that's something nobody knows. I
really want to enjoy whatever I am doing
and then see how it is being accepted.
People look for sincerity and honesty in
work," Rajkummar said.
"If a film does well, we all feel happy, but if it
doesn't, I am still fine as I know that I have
done my job with sincerity, maybe the film
didn't connect well with the viewers," he
added.
With "Bose: Dead/Alive" now already
receiving positive reviews from critics and
viewers, Rajkummar is next looking forward
to join the team of "Newton" in the US once
he recovers from his leg injury.
"I am very excited about Newton'. Soon I
will join the team in the US for promotions,"
he concluded.

https://www.pinkvilla.com/entertainment/news/playing-real-life-characters-gives-me-real-high-rajkummar-rao-392152.