Gajraj Rao on ‘lathi’ scene with Irrfan in Talvar, what the actor taught him: ‘Ye mere liye yaad rakhne wali baat hai…’

Speaking about the scene, Gajraj Rao told indianexpress.com about sharing screen space with the late Irrfan Khan: “Wo pehla din tha mera shoot ka, film city mein set laga hua tha hamara. Main Irrfan se usse pehle mila hua tha, par unke sath kabhi act nahi kiya tha. Maine unka ek natak dekha hua tha jab wo NSD mein the, and unnka sara kaam dekha hua tha, Salaam Bombay se lekar jab tak wo the. Main hamesha sochta tha ‘arey yaar kya kamaal hai ye aadmi’ aur apna signature unhone ek create kar liya tha (It was the first day of shoot, and despite meeting Irrfan on a few occasions, I had never had the chance to act with him. I had seen his plays of course when he was in National School of Drama, and had followed his work closely, right from Salaam Bombay up until his last work. I always used to think he was incredible, he had managed to create his own unique voice with his features).”

Irrfan then asked Gajraj Rao about what he knew of his character Dhaniram’s background, or whether he had anything on his mind? Rao was taken aback, he had not thought of doing any homework.

Gajraj Rao in a still from Talvar.

“Hum shot lene wale the, tab tak Irrfan kehte hai, chalo discuss karte hai. Aur main apne instinct pe bohot zyada depend karta hun, uss tarah se maine socha hua nahi tha. Ye mere liye yaad rakhne wali baat hai, aur hamesha yaad bhi rahegi aur hamesha follow bhi karta hoon uske baad ki aap jab act kar rahe hai to bas aap hi important nahi hai, baaki jo actors hai unki journey kya rahi hai film mein, uski knowledge hona bhi zaruri hai. Phir Irrfan ne mujhse pucha ki ‘Dhaniram ka background kya hoga, Gajraj?’ Maine realise kiya ki kiss tarah le jaa rahe hai wo scene ko. We discussed for one hour, and when we had begun, it looked very filmy, ki aisi thodi hota hai ki ek CDI officer aaya hai aur ek police wale ko aise thodi peet dega? (We were about to take the first shot, and that was when Irrfan turned to ask me what would the background of my character be. I realised then that you should not only be aware of your own scene, but have some basic knowledge regarding your co-actors’ parts too, and their journey within the movie. I understood where he was trying to take the scene. When we had begun the take, it looked very filmy, after all a CDI officer just cannot come and actually beat a cop in this manner),” Gajraj told us.

During the course of conversation, Gajraj Rao referred to Irrfan with a term that we have been associating him with since years now — extraordinary. He even credited the celebrated artiste for helping him shed light on the surface-level dubiousness of Dhaniram.

The actor said, “So you understand from that scene that Dhaniram is not a villain, and aisa nikal kar nahi aana chahiye ki wo ek joker hai (It shouldn’t come out like he is a joker). The system has made him the way he is. The part where he is holding on to his belt and searching for his laathi was improvised. Actor ka kaam hota hai khaane ko interesting banane ke liye dhaniya daalna thoda. Ye X factor wale log hote hai yaar, jaise Irrfan ho ya Mr Amitabh Bachchan hai, ya phir Manoj Bajpayee. Toh jab aap aise actors ke sath collaborate karte hai to apne aap ko aur zyada blessed feel karte hai (It is the job of an actor to make the dish interesting, add some dressing to it. Artistes like Irrfan, Amitabh Bachchan and Manoj Bajpayee possess an X factor which is hard to duplicate. You just feel blessed when you get to collaborate with them). What Irrfan taught me during Talvar unknowingly really affected my career; he was an extraordinary actor, goes without saying.”

We agree, sir. We agree.

Talvar is available to stream on Disney Plus Hotstar.