Rajesh Jais: Shooting in Madhya Pradesh is what made me take up Chhorii

Actor Rajesh Jais

, known for his roles in movies like 'Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety' and '

Raazi

' is currently shooting for the horror flick '

Chhorii

' in various parts of

Madhya Pradesh

. The movie, a remake of the popular Marathi film '

Lapachhapi

', also stars Nushrat Bharucha. The team has been shooting in the Pipariya district of the state, in sugarcane fields and old houses in the outskirts of the city. Jais, who resumed shooting after eight months, was hesitant to get back on set post the pandemic.

However, he says the small size of the cast, and the fact that the film was being shot in MP, is what drew him to the project. “There are just four primary characters in this movie, so we don't have to interact with many people, and there are no unnecessary crowds. Secondly, we are filming in MP, not Mumbai. I love Madhya Pradesh as a shooting destination, and shooting in the countryside considerably reduces the risk since we are in a remote setting. Apart from the actors, the entire crew is in PPE kits, with all the precautions and protocols in place. There is a team here which is dedicatedly sanitising everything. I have started addressing them ‘jasoos’ as they keep looking for things to sanitise,” says the actor.

Rajesh started his career in the 1990s with television and then in 2013 he bid adieu to television and started doing Bollywood projects. The year 2020 marks two decades of the

entertainment industry

too and Jais feels that the art has gone towards realism more in these two decades. “The line between art and reality is a blurred one now. Rather than acting about something people have been focusing more to make the acting look real which is not supposed to be like that. We have to suggest something through our actions and let the audience understand but that has taken a U-turn now” shares Rajesh.

He further adds, “The technology has helped the industry so much because I remember there was a time when our hair used to get curled due to the heat emitted by the lights but now the light’s heat is like moonlight. The types of equipment are hypersensitive now. Next thing is the respect which the people of the industry now get because now even highly educated people from the IIMs and IITs too are a part of the industry which earlier was not the scenario. I still remember that I had gotten my matrimonial advertisement printed in the Times of India as it was getting for me to get married. People didn’t look at this profession as a stable one. Then it was all about being a teacher, doctor or someone in the defence services but being a part the part of the entertainment industry is seen as a lucrative career choice”