‘Everyone is so surprised and I am very happy with this. It feels like I have got a new life.’ Rajiv Thakur, who is popular for his comedy on TV, talked about the response he is getting after working in the Netflix series ‘IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack’. In this show, he is playing the role of terrorist Ibrahim Akhtar aka ‘Chief’.
In a conversation with India Today, Rajeev told that director Anubhav Sinha was angry with casting director Mukesh Chhabra for auditioning him. Rajeev also told that after watching ‘IC 814’, actress Dia Mirza messaged him.
The director got upset with Rajeev’s audition
Rajeev told that he was looking for new roles for a long time but people were only able to see him in comedy roles. When he got a call from casting director Mukesh Chhabra’s office for the audition of ‘IC 814’, he was sure that he was going to fail. But he gave the audition thinking of learning something.
Rajiv told, ‘When I finally did the scene, I was selected. However, Anubhav sir got angry and he also scolded Mukesh bhai. He said why did you take Rajiv, because he was confused. He said- ‘He has given such a good audition but this role is of a terrorist. I don’t want people to laugh remembering his previous work.’ Then Mukesh bhai said that he has already given the audition and if even after this you will not give him a chance then who will? Then finally I got this role.’
In the audition, Rajeev got to do the scene in which he asks the pilot (Vijay Verma) to fly the plane quietly. Rajeev told that he had spoken that dialogue in a very villainous manner, but he was told to do it like a natural conversation.
He further said, ‘I thought this was my weakest audition and guess what, I passed it. I really think it is very important to audition in front of the casting team because they help you a lot in getting the tone right. I am an actor who follows the director and I hope that after this more filmmakers will see me in a different way.’
Rajiv is getting praise from the public
Actor Rajeev, who appeared on ‘The Great Indian Kapil Show’, said that he is getting the same love from the public for ‘IC 814’ as he used to get 15 years ago during ‘Laughter Challenge’. He said that many people did not even recognize him till the end of the show.
‘Earlier I was a little sad that we didn’t get a chance to promote the show. However, now I feel that this thing became a shock value for people and because of this I got more love. I am not used to so many praises, the best thing was when the cast of the show talked to me. Actors like Kumud Mishra and Divyendu Bhattacharya, who understand the craft, praised me’ Rajiv told.
He was most happy to receive a message from actress Dia Mirza. Dia messaged Rajiv on Instagram after watching ‘IC 814’. Rajiv said, ‘It was very sweet of her to find my profile and text me. To be honest, before I saw the number of her followers, for a moment I thought it was a fake profile. I am very grateful that I got to see this day in my career.’
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