Badhaai Do director on Rajkummar Rao playing a gay police officer: ‘It is not easy for a cop to be queer’

Starring Rajkummar Rao and Bhumi Pednekar, Badhaai Do is centered on the subject of lavender marriage. Directed by Harshvardhan Kulkarni, Badhaai Do is scheduled to release on February 11.

3 min readNew DelhiJan 30, 2022 08:17 AM IST

Rajkummar Rao plays a police officer in Badhaai Do.

Filmmaker Onir recently expressed his disappointment that his script, which featured a gay army officer, was rejected by the Army. But upon seeing Rajkummar Rao playing a gay police officer in the recently released trailer of Badhaai Do, Onir applauded director Harshvardhan Kulkarni’s film. In a conversation with indianexpress.com, Kulkarni shared that the choice of profession for Rajkummar’s character, Shardul, was decided after a lot of thought. “It is not easy for a cop being queer, it is very tough. It is not a simple journey for him,” he said. Kulkarni shared that the obstacles Shardul faces in the film, and his profession added another layer to his character.

Badhaai Do seems like a mainstream film, which has its roots in a socially relevant subject. However, Harshvardhan shared that the reason for making socially relevant cinema is probably that they are “more socially aware human beings” as he spoke about the writers, makers, and the lead actors of the film. “It is not the other way around that it has to be socially relevant and then let’s put a story behind it. That doesn’t come to me or the writers (Suman Adhikary, Akshat Ghildial), none of us.”

Speaking of his lead cast members, Harshvardhan sounded thoroughly impressed with the preparation of Bhumi Pednekar and Rajkummar Rao. Harshvardhan shared that he has always “admired” Bhumi and Rajkummar and his idea was “to work with actors who are passionate and their craft shows that passion.” Recalling the time before they started working together, Harshvardhan said that he was hoping for it to be a fruitful experience but the uncertainty can make even the most optimistic people a little cynical, but all of that cynicism disappeared as soon as they started working.

“I am probably their brand ambassador now. These are the guys to go for, they are the best. They make me feel so good in front of people and I know for a fact that I did not tell them to do this. They are brilliant, sensational. The prep was so good from their own end, effortless,” he said.

Badhaai Do is scheduled to release on February 11.