‘Don’t want to become a star if I can’t watch my film with daughter'

Rajpal Yadav is playing a true sardar for the first time in his career. In Patiala recently to shoot for a Punjabi film where he essays the lead of a turbaned Sikh, Rajpal says, “I didn’t want to do an item role as a Sikh in 20 years of my career. Once, in

Chor Machaaye Shor

, Bobby Deol and I disguised ourselves as sardars to save ourselves, but I refused many other roles. We are doing

entertainment

which sometimes is like an IPL match where you play 2-3 overs and other times is a test match where you stay on the crease for few days. Playing this Sikh character is a test match.”
After the lockdown, Rajpal has been busy wrapping up his remaining parts in films like,

Coolie No 1

, Hungama 2,

Bhool Bhulaiya 2

and

Hello Charlie

. Ask him if he wants to venture outside the comic genre now and he says, “For 15 years, most lead actors have also survived doing comedy. Sab ne kamar chala ke hi kaam kiya hai, whether it’s Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar or others. Life has many of its own complexities, people don’t want to see that on screen too.” He argues, “After 20 years people are still watching my films, and comedy is the prevailing mood.”
At his age, Rajpal says he has refined his craft. “In Hollywood, actors over 40 are considered young. For me, now is the time to do performance oriented roles, abhi toh party shuru hui hai (laughs). Till the age of 40, actors are pleasing others, but after that is the time to command characters and ask for what we want from script writers.”
However, Rajpal is not keen on the contemporary flavour of bold genre on OTT platform. “I am a responsible artist who wants to entertain families. I refused (web) series after they turned abusive. It seems the makers are venting out years of pent up frustration there since there is no censor. If becoming a big star means doing a film that I can’t watch with my daughter, I don’t want to become that star. I fall weak where a woman is abused on screen. So, I went and sat on the side, waiting for the tide of abusive entertainment to ebb.”