Filmmaker Amit Ravindernath Sharma, who made a name for himself in the world of ad films before breaking into the Bollywood big-leagues with Badhaai Ho, recalled an anecdote about actor Gajraj Rao in a new interview. They worked together on the comedy drama, which catapulted Gajraj's career and established him a leading man. In an interview with Film Companion, Amit was asked about his tendency to perform scenes for his actors, which can be a controversial practice on set. He said that it is important to 'think like an actor' in order to achieve results. He joked that Ayushmann Khurrana, who starred in Badhaai Ho, defers to his 'performance' these days. Recalling his story about Gajraj Rao, Amit continued, "With Gajraj Rao, on the second day of shoot, I got scared. And it was all going good. Everybody was laughing on set. And because everybody was laughing, I got scared. I went to the gurudwara, and I said, 'Something is going wrong, I don't know what it is, just take care of it'." Amit continued, "Next morning when I woke up, before going to the set, I knew what was going wrong. I went to Gajraj Rao's vanity, and I told him, 'Main jahaan haath pakdunga, ruk jaana (When I tell you to pull back, trust me)'." Amit explained, "He's a theatre actor, but in feature films, a scene is written for a particular character. But if the other character is eating up that scene, when you see the final edit, the film will be disjointed. If it is the son's scene, it has to go with the son." Amit said that Gajraj was 'putting extra dialogues everywhere', which was very funny and everybody on set was laughing. "He said, 'Kya karna hai (What should I do)?' I said, 'Rukna hai, jahaan main rokunga ruk jaana hai (You have to restrain yourself when I tell you to)'. So, that's where (performing the scene) really helps you. As a director, when you think like an actor, it really helps me take the thing forward." Released in 2018, Badhaai Ho emerged as a critical and commercial successs. The film also starred Sanya Malhotra and Neena Gupta. A spiritual sequel, titled Badhaai Do, was released in 2022. It starred Rajkummar Rao and was directed by Harshvardhan Kulkarni. Amit made his Bollywood debut with the critical and commercial dud Tevar, and is now gearing up for the release of his long-delayed sports drama Maidaan.
