Yes he is! Rajkummar Rao is one of the finest actors we have today.
If you have seen Talaash you just can’t miss his sheer acting brilliance in the scene when Rani and Aamir were having an argument. All this guy had to say was, ‘Sir main aata hn baad mein’ which translates to ‘Sir, I’ll come sometime later’. Just this line, and he did it so beautifully.
Furthermore, you cannot forget the depth with which he portrayed the character of ‘Baniya’ in Kai Po Che. It’s so easy to DO things. In this case, however, he had to be restricted. He had to portray shyness of the character, his inhibitions. And how brilliantly Rajkummar did it!
It’s not just him. There are so may other fine actors.
How can you forget Raanjhana’s ‘Murari’? He put the locals to shame when it comes to getting the diction right. And he was so flawless.
Also, he was the one who killed Jessica in ‘No One Killed Jessica’. A fine performance again.
Swara Bhaskar
How can anyone forget this ‘Kali Kutiya’? She was so so so much better than the leading lady of the movie Raanjhana. She’s easily the female Rajkummar Rao of our industry. Extremely talented, yet not celebrated.
Bijendra Kala
Have you seen Paan Singh Tomar? If you have, you just cannot forget the intimidated not-that-fine journalist who went to took Paan Singh Tomar’s interview. Also, the sequence where he was offered food.
This man’s eyes takes his expressions to a new level altogether. He acts with his eyes.
Rajesh Sharma
This man again. He’s a master of his trade. He’s a gem too. ‘Love Shuv Te Chicken Khurna’ saw him taking the lead. Brilliant he was.
This could be a very long list. I can add Divya Dutta, Rajat Kapoor, Tisca Chopra and many other names to the list.
Why is it so?
There are heroes. There are stars. And there are actors. We have enough examples in our industry for each of these categories and there are some names which can appear in all the 3 categories.
However, the fact is that we don’t treat the 3 categories equally. We want heroes. We want him to be a can-do-all person. He (and she as well) has to be the best of the lot, larger than the fucking real life.
Unfortunately, this leads to neglect of the actors. They’re not celebrated. They don’t get their share of applause, money or recognition either. That’s an ugly fact of our industry.
Who is to be blamed?
- Industry: For it’s nepotism (I hate using this word after Karan-Kangnaa spat). Imran Khan got the chance for he was Aamir’s nephew.
- Audience: We, yes you and me, are to be blamed as well. We want the best looking faces to portray the lead roles. That’s the reason why Divya Dutta didn’t become our favorite actress.
- Skill Set: Well, Vidyut Jamwal isn’t a hero yet despite the face and the body. Our Rajkummar Rao can’t really dance.
- Luck: There are girls better than Frieda Pinto in terms of looks and acting skills in every street. Still, she got to do Slumdog Millionaire.