An outsider who has carved his space in the massive world of Bollywood, Rajkummar Rao is now regarded as one of the finest actors in the country. Hailing from Gurgaon, Haryana, Rao is an alumnus of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune, and made his on-screen debut in 2010 playing small roles in Rann and Love Sex Aur Dhokha. He gradually rose through the ranks by taking on supporting roles in acclaimed films like Shaitan, Gangs of Wasseypur 2 and Talaash, before turning heads with his performance in director Hansal Mehta’s biographical drama Shahid (2012), which earned him his first National Film Award for Best Actor.
As he gears up for the release of the highly anticipated horror-comedy Stree 2, a sequel to the 2018 film Stree and the fifth instalment in the Maddock Supernatural Universe, Rao continues to challenge himself with diverse and unconventional roles, earning widespread acclaim.
However, Rajkummar’s Rao recently noted that he might not have been able to portray Dr Kabir Rajdheer Singh in director Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s controversial film Kabir Singh (2019) had the character been offered to him. The actor made it clear that one thing he deems he cannot do, even in a movie scene, is “slapping a girl”.
Kabir Singh, upon its release and in the following years, has earned significant criticism for its perceived glorification of misogyny and toxic masculinity, and the romanticisation of domestic violence. A scene in the movie, showing Kabir slapping his girlfriend Preeti Sikka (Kiara Advani), received substantial backlash.
During a recent chat with Hindustan Times, Rajkumar Rao was asked what he would never do on screen and he immediately said, “Actually, it would be very hard for me to slap a girl in a scene. I wouldn’t be able to do it.” When asked if he would have taken on Kabir Singh, the actor replied, “Yeah, maybe I would have had a lot of discussions with my director about this scene. Unless it’s like something which you cannot, CANNOT live without, you know your character just cannot live without, it’s like breathing that has to be there… I would get into a big debate with my director.”
Also starring Shraddha Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi, Abhishek Banerjee and Aparshakti Khurana, director Amar Kaushik’s Stree 2 will hit the screens on August 15. This is Rao’s third release this year after Srikanth and Mr & Mrs Mahi.
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