A Real Location Always Helps Me Perform: Rajkummar Rao on ‘Newton’

Rajkummar Rao talks about ‘Newton’, ‘Omerta’ and everything in between.

Rajkummar Rao’s co-actors were the region’s inhabitants. 

(Photo Courtesy: Instagram/@rajkummar_rao)

Rajkummar Rao’s Newton is one of the most anticipated films of the year and The Quint caught up with the actor to talk about his experience of playing an idealistic government servant on a mission to conduct free and fair voting in the Naxal-controlled jungles of Chhattisgarh.

Subhash Jha: In your new release, Newton, you play a patriotic man. How do you make the shift from playing the hardcore terrorist in Omerta to the sincere, honest government clerk in Newton?

Rajkummar Rao: Every character has its own challenges. Newton - I can personally connect to, can connect to his ideologies and principles; Omar in Omerta is someone I had to work really hard to understand. That’s the fun of being an actor, that you get to explore such different spaces and worlds. It makes you more aware as a person.

Jha: How did you ensure that the character’s uprightness didn’t make him over-sanctimonious and dull?

Rao: I just had to be true to the script. It was all there and as I said earlier, I could totally connect with Newton’s ideologies.

Jha: You shot in some very tough territory for Newton. Does the authentic location help you stay in  character?

Rao: A real location always helps me perform. It gives you an idea of space and puts you right there. You don’t have to worry about imagining the space you’re in while filming it. I always prefer shooting in real locations than a set.

Jha: What was it like, working in Chhattisgarh?

Rao: My idea of Chhattisgarh was very different, specially the interiors. But once we landed there - it was so beautiful. Its untouched beauty. People there are so nice and welcoming. We never faced any single problem during our stay there. People were going out of their way to help us. I met some indigenous people on our set who are also our actors in the film. There is so much to learn from these people. They’re always smiling and very happy with their lives and on top of that they are such wonderful actors and very pure people. This kind of purity is very rare to find these days.

Jha: Not too many films are made about idealistic government officers. Do you think our country needs more Newtons to be able to get out of the morass of corruption and  lethargy?

Rao: We definitely need one Newton from every constituency to make this world a better and fair place. There is a Newton inside all of us, we just have to wake him up.

Jha: In Newton, your character is gung-ho about voting rights. Do you feel more of us need to get out there and exercise our voting rights?

Rao: Newton is very sincere and honest in whatever he does in life and he won’t deviate from his path for anyone. Yes, right to vote is one of the most powerful rights we have as citizens of this country. It’s very sad that still there are so many people in our country who don’t exercise this right, for them voting day is like a holiday and nothing else.

There is no point complaining for next 4/5 years if we don’t participate in choosing our government, in choosing our leader.

Rajkummar Rao, Actor

Jha: Your character gets his name from one of our finest actresses - Nutan. Do you wish you were around when Nutan, Meena Kumari and Nargis were alive?

Rao: I wish I had a chance to work with all these stalwarts and also with Dilip Saab, Balraj Sahni, Sanjeev Kumar and Raj Kapoor. We had such marvellous actors at that time. All these actors have inspired generations.

Jha: And finally, what was it like working with Amit Masurkar, Newton’s Director?

Rao: Amit’s ideas are very fresh and not inspired by anyone. He is very clear in his vision and knows exactly what he wants from his team. He is a young guy who has just started his career and am sure he will go a very long way. I genuinely like him a lot. More power to him and his cinema.

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