Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s first web series Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar has garnered the entire country’s attention, from netizens appreciating the spectacular and extravagant sets, to criticising the filmmaker for not focusing more on the plotline and the character arcs. One of the many celebrities, who stole the limelight with their exceptional performances is actor Rajat Kaul. Having risen to fame with Anil Kapoor starrer 24 and Special OPS, his portrayal of Iqbal, Mallikajaan's (Manisha Koirala) man Friday, in Heeramandi has been receiving positive responses from all his admirers.
In an exclusive chat with SpotboyE, while talking about his experience of working with the Gangubai Kathiawadi filmmaker, Rajat shared, “It’s Bhansali’s world and we are living in it.” Further in the interview, he went on to recall that he got the opportunity to work with Sanjay Leela Bhansali after his father passed away during the pandemic. The actor shared how he was staying in Lucknow, during the pandemic, when his father passed away in April 2021. He added. “My father was the one, who I would always confide in, and since he came from an Army background, a retired Colonel, worldly knowledge bahut thi unko. He always used to give me an anecdote or a different perspective on life that I would never think about.”
The Pathaan actor went on to recall how the opportunity to work in the show came as a ray of hope when he was thinking about staying with his mother. He said, “Unke jaane baad I felt a lot of loss. I started questioning if I should just stay back in Lucknow as I had to take care of my mother. I didn’t want to leave her alone in such a situation. All these thoughts were going on in my head and suddenly one day I got a call from Chhavi Vij, who is assisting Shruti Mahajan. She informed me about the opportunity, which left me baffled. This was like a ray of hope, a silver lining, which I was not looking for, but still came.”
Explaining the journey of bagging the role, Kaul revealed that even though he felt numb, he gave the audition as he had promised his father to become something. He explained, “We did initial takes and scenes where they wanted me to be empathetic, caring, and very loving. Since I had to take care of my mother and sister and provide them with a strong shoulder, it became easy for me to portray those emotions during the scene.”
Rajat Kaul concluded by stating that he bagged the role by June-July and started preparing for the role.
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