(tg) During the Stuttgart Film Festival Tomal Ganguly (right) got the opportunity to do an interview with actor Rajkumar Yadav (left), who impressed the audience by playing the lead role in „Shahid“.
How did you like the filmfestival here in Stuttgart so far?
I’m loving it! I think it is so much warmth here at the festival and I am absolutely loving it. And being in the center of the city I can just roam around, see beautiful places and watch some great films. So what more can you ask for.
So did you also had the chance to go around in Stuttgart?
Oh yeah, yes I did. I went to the palace today, this morning. And I just saw some places like the market area, behind the fish market, supermarket. Yeah, I’ve been around here, loving it!
One of your movies has been shown here in Stuttgart at the film festival. A movie named ‘Shahid’.
Correct…
So can you give a short description about the movie with your own words?
Well, Shahid you know, it’s a biopic. It is about the reallife lawyer Shahid Azmi who was shot dead in Mumbai in 2010 when he was only 32. So, it’s his life and we have shown his life. And it’s a very inspiring film. It deals with human rights and with terrorism and his personal life.
How could you identify yourself with this person? Was it difficult for you to identify yourself with the role?
It was not that difficult. Because somewhere I can absolutely relate to his principles of life. You know, even I’m like somewhere – he was a very emotional guy – and I am very emotional, too. So I can connect to him mentally. But of course, then you have to know him more because you are playing a real life character and you really can’t go wrong.
So it’s different then a fictional movie…
Of course. There’s a lot of responsibility on the shoulder. Because there are people who know him, his family is there. So I spent a lot of time with his brother, got to know him and his colleagues. So as much as we could find about him.
That’s very interesting. So coming back to the festival here in Stuttgart. If you would describe the film festival here with only three words, what would these three words be?
It’s warmth, beautiful and I want to come back again.
I rate ‘come back’ as the third word then…
Yes absolutely… (laughs)
What are your next projects and on which projects are your currently working?
I finished a film called ‘Queen’. It’s between me and Kangana Ranaut. It’s a very unique, very different love story. Very real… you can connect to the reality.
And when is it going to be released?
It’s releasing on October 11th. And then ‘Shahid’ is going to be released and then I’m going to start a film with UTV at the moment when I’m going back. That’s a horror comedy. And then I’m going to do a film with Nikhil Advani called ‘D-Day’.
Horror comedy sounds interesting. Do you personally like these kind of genre? I have also seen you in different roles, e.g. in ‘Shaitan’ or ‘Ragini MMS’.
Like in ‘Ragini MMS’, correct. This is different from ‘Ragini’. In that movie (Anm. d. Red.: ‘Queen’) my character is absolutely different. I have never done such a character before. So I think that is the fun of being an actor. You try and find a character to which you can connect yourself, which excites you, so this is one of those which I want to play.
What would you suggest to the newcoming actors and actresses, who want to start in the film business?
The only thing I would suggest is that just keep working hard and work on your craft which is very important. Just only going to gym won’t help. And you need to work on your craft. Because time has changed now and it’s more about craft.
Great. So thank you very much for your time though it’s very late now and we hope to see you again in Stuttgart!
Thank you, too!