Television’s favourite chocolate boy Rajeev Khandelwal is seen in a completely different avatar in Voot Select’s new original web series — Marzi. Set in Shimla, Rajeev plays Dr Anurag Saraswat in the thriller, a remake of the British hit show Liar. The Telegraph caught up with Rajeev for an exclusive chat…
Do you think Marzi will break that lover-boy image that the audience has about you?
I think there are two things that have happened to me — one that this whole nice lover-boy image has stuck with me but second, at the same time, people also know that I try and do different stuff. A lot of people expect me to do something that’s not a repeat of what I’ve done in the past. So, I’d like to stick to that, where I’m not doing something that I’ve attempted in the past. It’s not like I’m breaking the mould, I’ve never really consciously tried to stick to any image. Even my first show (Kahiin to Hoga, 2003-05, his second proper lead, and breakout, show) that I did which was quite a romantic show, I had quit that show because I wanted to discontinue the love that I was getting for the character. In my head, I wanted to establish myself as an actor and that only happens when you experiment with different genres. Then I did a show called Left Right Left (2006), then Aamir (2008) happened, Sacch Ka Saamna (2009) and Shaitan (2011) happened. So, I’ve been trying to do different stuff not for the world but only for myself and this is a step forward to that.
Did you watch Liar to prepare for your character?
I’ve this whole fear in my mind each time I’m attempting something which has been done before. For example, Aamir was a remake, it was based on a Filipino film Cavite and I was asked by the makers if I wanted to watch it. I didn’t want to because I thought that this was going to corrupt my way of thinking or approaching my character because somewhere I’d get influenced. I remember I was in London when the makers called me and told me about Marzi. I am always open to doing something different and they sent me the link to the first episode of Liar. I saw the episode and I went, ‘Wow! This is good stuff’. I asked them to tell me what happens in the subsequent episodes but I didn’t want to watch the show. I asked them to send me the script because otherwise when you watch something so intriguing and exciting as this one, it is bound to leave an impression somewhere. I watched it in July but we started filming only in December to February (this year), so by then I had even forgotten what the characters look like. So, thankfully you’d draw no parallels between this guy and the other guy. It’s a very well shot series and I’m hoping that we surpass that.
Was it tough shooting in Shimla during the winters?
It was extremely cold in February, like biting cold! We had a lot of sequences at night and in locations that were on top of a hill. That experience was fantastic because these are the things that you always remember in hindsight. It was very thrilling shooting those scenes at 2am or 3am. We devised our own ways of keeping ourselves warm (laughs). If you go to Kashmir, there are people who wear phiran and hold a little fire inside to keep themselves warm. So, we’d throw a towel or a bedsheet and then hold that little simmering coal on a wooden thing inside. We knew that we had a performance-driven scene coming up and we had to do it!
How did you prepare for your character who gets accused of rape in Marzi?
We did workshops where we’d sit and do our scenes, give my approach or my take on it. This is a character where you can have many approaches to depict your mental state. So, there used to be a little difference on my director’s (Anil Senior) take and my take. So sometimes we would do both the takes, sometimes I’d manage to convince him or he’d convince me and eventually leave the final decision for the edit table! Today I asked him how many of my versions did he keep and he said, ‘Not a single one!’ I said, ‘Okay, now if it doesn’t work I’ll say it’s because you never kept my version and if it does then I’ll always appreciate’ (laughs).
How did it feel like playing such a grey character?
It comes very naturally. We are all grey people. It resonated with me as a person and you realise these characters are all around us. It was exciting to play this character and it was fun being on set every day.
What do you keep in mind while selecting projects now?
I don't keep anything in mind, I don’t even know what I want to do in life. I just know one thing that I need to be somewhere be a part of the soul of the show. It could be a fringe character too... but I just want to be the soul, then I get that energy. If I’m just playing a character that can be removed on the edit table, then it doesn’t excite me at all. It could be a small character but if it contributes something to the soul of the show, it excites me.
You’ve enjoyed huge female fandom over the years. How do you handle that adulation now?
You grow… I grew out of that whole thing in the first year itself. I never relished it for so many years. Of course you like attention from women but I also knew that that’s not for me — very early in my career I knew that it was for my character. I could see the mirror also, na? So I knew that this is me and it is for the character that I am playing (laughs). I was very realistic and didn’t attempt any romantic character again. I think most of us guys have one kind of blueprint that you’d want to get famous, you’d want to be loved by women but that’s not what I was looking for. After I quit the first show, I’m very glad I picked up a 24-episode series called Time Bomb 9/11 (2005) on Zee TV which didn’t work. Then Aamir happened… when you do stuff like that you realise how short-sighted you were. Till then the world was all about, ‘I love you!’ and adulation from women and then you do something like this and it satisfies your inner self as an actor.
You did another web-series called Coldd Lassi Aur Chicken Masala on ALTBalaji last year. Are you enjoying working in the digital space now?
Oh yes, that was a romantic thing after many years! I was like, ‘Okay, let’s do this one ya’. I enjoy my projects, it doesn’t matter to me which space I’m working in. I did a play for Tata Sky Theatre, for me it has always been unnerving to think that I’d speak on stage for 90 minutes without any cuts or breaks. There were three cuts but there were still 28 minutes sequences where I charmed all the NSD (National School of Drama) guys. For me, that’s a huge achievement in my head because I was working with all professional actors from NSD. I did that and I was very happy, so it’s always the project that matters and not the space.
What are the shows you’re binging on currently?
I just finished Narcos Season 2. I started off with House of Cards, you envy such actors and think, ‘When can I pull off something like this?’ It makes me envious when I see performances like House of Cards or The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
What are you working on next?
A web show called Naxal for Zee5.