'I had never planned acting'

Soaring High

Raj Kumar Yadav has carved a niche for himself. He has already shared screen space with actors like Aamir Khan in Talash and has done a quite a noticeable role as Shamshad Alam in the critically acclaimed ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’.

Ask him about his role in Kai Po Che and he says, “I had to work on my character Govind and his background. It was difficult to get the Gujarati accent but I wanted it to be real. We also had special workshops for the film,” he explains. Throwing light on the workshops, he says, “These workshops show the way and help one become familiar with the character. So, when we are on the set, we aren’t confused. We are prepared for the kind of scenes we are supposed to shoot,” he says. “It is really exciting to play a character which has so many shades. I feel co-actors also help in making the experience wonderful. All three of us got along like a house on fire and that’s because we respect each other as actors. Our mental levels match, hence it was a great experience working with the others,” he adds.

This is not the only time that the actor has visited the City, his association with Bangalore goes a long way back.

“I have some friends in the City and they used to get these yummy sweets and
other delicacies. The weather is great and the crowd is so young and vivacious,” he says.

The actor is quite busy. He will be seen in Anurag Kashyap’s Shahid and in ‘Queen’ with Kangana Ranaut. “It was a nice experience working with Kangana— she is very hardworking and impressive on the sets. Anurag Kashyap is the face of Indian cinema currently. He has given so many great films. He showers his actors with a lot of love and gives them a lot of freedom to work. Working with him is also a great experience,” she says. He goes on to talk about his career and recounts that acting in films was never his plan. “I had never planned acting, it just happened. Right now, I don’t want to categorise between commercial cinema and art cinema. I want to do good films which leave me with a good feeling,” he adds.

About the three mistakes of his life, Raj Kumar says that he learns from his mistakes and moves on.