Rajkummar Rao: I don't google myself and I don't let things get to me

Actor Rajkummar Rao says he is not alien to the pressure of expectations, yet he doesn’t let it get to him. “I have made this really nice cocoon and I don’t let these things get inside it. I don’t google myself and I don’t let things get to me. The maximum happiness I get is when I give a good shot,” says Rao, who has worked in films such as Shahid (2013), Queen (2014), Aligarh (2016).

The National Award winning actor explains, “I can’t work under pressure. As an actor, I have to be at peace with myself. If I’m stressed, then I can’t work well.”

About the pressure of delivering a good film every time, he adds, “The image of an actor changes with every film. I am grateful that people think that I do good films but God forbid, if I do two bad films in a row, that will change everything.”

The actor has worked with several art houses and commercial directors such as Hansal Mehta, Vikas Bahl and Vikramaditya Motwane and if there is one quality he looks for in directors is passion for films. “I want directors to be as passionate as I am for the projects. If somebody new comes up to me, I want to see how much they love the script, and if my understanding is the same as theirs, then there has to be a common thread.”