Rajkummar Rao

“My biggest high is just to be in front of the camera and be on a film set.”

“I want to go higher in my career. This is not my best. My best is yet to come.”

“In Delhi, I became a serious stage actor. Then, luckily, the FTII acting course began, and I studied there, spent some time working on my craft. In 2008, I moved to Mumbai, and then in one and a half years of so-called struggle, I got my first film, 'Love Sex aur Dhokha' (LSD).”

“What's the fun in doing conventional things? I would rather be known as someone who is unconventional. I like being unconventional. I like doing things which are different. That's what I like... It gives me a boost as an actor.”

“It's a one-day story of a guy called Newton Kumar, and the backdrop is election: how the most powerful tool we have as citizens is vote but how we don't utilise it. We really don't give importance to it. It talks about democracy; it's a satire, a black comedy.”

“I did not even know there are so many options for girls to wear. Playing a tailor gave me quite some knowledge about girls' clothing.”

“'Stree' is a horror comedy in which a bridal ghost who is back in town to take revenge from men, she is the one giving a lot of pain to the men. We have reversed the role, which is such an amazing feeling.”

“Acting, for me, is giving to your co-actors.”

“The speed at which cinema is changing, the definition of hero is also changing. Even a big superstar like Aamir sir plays the role of a father. There's action genre, where you have to show body and do stunts, so you may call that a hero.”

“Whatever good is happening with 'Newton' is because of my mom's blessings. I really believe in that.”

“Whenever I like a character or a script, I take up the project and leave the rest to the audience.”

“People took notice of me and saw that I can carry off light-hearted roles as well. They started talking about Pritam Vidrohi, and it became a lovable character; I saw that people were clapping and whistling. It was a big high to watch this kind of reaction.”

“Everybody is replaceable; nobody is irreplaceable here. If I'm going to say no to it because I want to do two films a year and sit at home, someone else will.”

“I don't know when I'll ever get a chance to be all alone in a film.”

“I don't think that now I am a star. I don't get too much time to interact with people, and I am quite busy with work. I work. I come back home, and my loved ones are still the same. They will never change. And, I travel. I have not realised or internalised that life has changed.”

“I don't really think about the box office, but I want my films to do well.”

“The process of playing a character as dark as Omar Saeed Sheikh is disturbing. So you have to mentally also be in that psyche, that state of mind. So, it was not easy. I was trying to cultivate a lot of anger and hatred in me while portraying him, because that's what I read and heard about him.”

“Whenever I think I'm going to do two films a year, I get another wonderful story, like 'Stree', and I'm like, 'Wow!'”

“After finishing my study in Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), I was mentally prepared for the struggle in the film industry.”

“There was a phase where nothing was going right, and the thought crossed my mind that what is going to happen. Since I had no Plan B, I was sure from the beginning that I love acting and this is what I want to do for the rest of my life, so I had to be ready to struggle.”