Actor Rajkummar Rao, who has teamed up with Hansal Mehta for the third time in Aligarh , says he can never turn down an opportunity to work with the Shahid director.
“Even if I were to do a small role in Hansalji’s film, I’d do it happily. I can never say no to him,” Rajkummar said.
Having already worked with the filmmaker twice, Rao chose to reunite with Mehta in Aligarh , not solely on the basis of their relationship.
“I didn’t want to miss out on working in a beautiful film. Here’s a story that needs to be told, and who else other than Hansalji can do justice to it? I read the script and fell in love with it, especially with my part, which is so different from the roles I’ve essayed in my career,” he said.
In the movie, Rajkummar plays south Indian reporter Deepu Sebastian. For the role, he met the real character to have a deeper understanding of his role.
“I play a Malayali boy, who has spent a lot of time in Delhi. His lingo is a strange mix, different from the Hindi we speak in north India. I had to learn Malayalam, and let me tell you it was extremely challenging to mouth lines in Hindi with a southern accent,” he said.
In his third collaboration with Mehta, the biggest challenge for Rajkummar was to ensure there were no traces of his characters from their earlier outings.
After making it to international film festivals, Aligarh is set to open the 17th Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival.
The film also stars Manoj Bajpayee, and is based on the true story of Shrinivas Ramchandra Siras, who taught at the Aligarh Muslim University and was sacked from his position on charges of homosexuality.
