For Gajraj Rao, Badhaai Ho is no less than a miracle. The actor who has been in the industry for over two decades, and still pursues other interests for financial security, says acting alone is not a lucrative profession unless one is a superstar.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a miracle, it\u2019s magic,\u201d says Gajraj, not talking about his Badhaai Ho character impregnating his wife at an age when couples cradle their grandchildren. Gajraj is dumbfounded by the success the film has got him. \u201cThe calls, the messages, friends and strangers alike are calling from all over the country and from outside. I never imagined this film would change my life and career. But it has. It is all destiny,\u201d said the actor, who has been around since 1998.<\/p>\n
He doesn\u2019t see his years of struggle as struggle. \u201cIt was not as if acting was my only means of livelihood. I made sure my family didn\u2019t have to suffer the consequences of my passion for acting.\u201d<\/p>\n
While pursuing his acting career, Gajraj also dabbled in the business of garment export. He also tried his hand at Hindi journalism for a while. And he owns an ad-making agency Code Red Films. All these pursuits serve as financial security for Gajraj and his family.<\/p>\n
\u201cI firmly believe acting cannot be a lucrative profession unless you are a superstar. That a major role in Badhaai Ho has come so late in my career can only be called destiny. I never expected to get a pivotal role like this. It was Ayushmann Khurrana who recommended me for the role. I can\u2019t thank him enough, and the director Amit Sharma and the writers for writing such an interesting role for an actor who has never done a central part before.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reminded of the hard-hitting real-life TV crime drama Bhanwar in which he had played a child rapist, Gajraj recalled his beginnings. \u201cIt isn\u2019t as if Badhaai Ho is the first role I\u2019ve been recognised for. Off and on for films like Black Friday, Yahaan and No Smoking, I was noticed and praised.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy last screen appearance was in Meghna Gulzar\u2019s Talvar, where I had a brief but interesting role. And my stint in the web series \u2018Tech Conversations With Dad\u2019 for The Viral Fever connected me to the young audience. \u201cBut earlier when I was recognised by someone at the airport or at an event, it was like, Aapko maine kahin dekha hai . Then I would launch into my own biodata to tell the person who I am.\u201d<\/p>\n
But after Badhaai Ho, he says it is for the first time that he is being called out by his name. \u201cWhen someone shouted, Gajraj at a public place for the first time, it was music to my ears.\u201d<\/p>\n
The world of Kaushik, the character that Gajraj plays in Badhaai Ho, is familiar to him. \u201cMy father was in the railways, just like my character in \u201cBadhaai Ho\u201d. I\u2019ve spent all my growing up years in a flat in a railway colony. Doing this film was in many ways a process of reclaiming my past.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For Gajraj Rao, Badhaai Ho is no less than a miracle. The actor who has been in the industry for over two decades, and still pursues other interests for financial security, says acting alone is not a lucrative profession unless one is a superstar. \u201cIt\u2019s a miracle, it\u2019s magic,\u201d says Gajraj, not talking about his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45816,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[123],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45815","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45815"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45815\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45817,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45815\/revisions\/45817"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45816"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}