Rajkummar Rao on playing Shardul in Badhaai Do: ‘I have many friends who are gay so I had reference points’

In his 12 year long career as an actor, Rajkummar Rao has played many different characters on-screen-- may it be a madly in love tailor in Stree , a physical training instructor in Chhalaang or heartbreaker Vijay in Queen . The only commonality between all his projects is that he gives the character his everything! Which is exactly what he did in his latest release Badhaai Do . Rajkummar won our hearts yet again with his incredible portrayal of Shardul, a cop who enters a lavender marriage instead of coming out to his family.

So how did he prepare for this role? In a chat with ETimes, Raj shared, “As an actor I want to do everything. That’s my job. I am devoted to my characters. I don’t want to restrict myself. I have many friends who are gay so I had had reference points. I tried to understand what they expect from society and their experience of coming out or being closeted. Also as an actor, you borrow a lot from your own perspective on things and people. I ensured my character Shardul is not caricaturish. He is a strong, macho guy, who is gay. There are so many gay men out there who are like Shardul.”

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The actor went on to add that Shardul wanted something else from life, but ended up becoming someone else due to family and societal pressure, which is what many people go through. There’s much more to the role and Rajkummar has done a fantastic job at breathing life into the character. Watching him with his co-stars Bhumi Pednekar and Gulshan Devaiah was also a treat!

What did you think of Rajkummar’s performance as Shardul in Badhaai Do?