‘Good work will be recognised someday’: Rakesh Bedi on going viral with ‘Dhurandhar’

The massive success of Aditya Dhar’s Durandhar movies has given Rakesh Bedi’s career a second wind. Bedi, who plays the wily politician Jameel Jamali, has a separate fanbase for his catchphrase “Baccha hai tu mera.”

The veteran of cinema, theatre and television was born in Delhi and studied acting at the Film and Television Institute of India in Pune. After a fine start with the movies Chashme Buddoor and Ek Duuje Ke Liye, Bedi settled for supporting roles. His work in television included the popular serials Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi, Yes Boss and Shriman Shrimati.

Bedi also kept working on the stage, where his one-man play Massage, based on the writings of Vijay Tendulkar, was a be a long-running hit. He is still a part of the Indian People’s Theatre Association and appears in their plays, such as Biwi O Biwi (which he wrote and directed) and Tajmahal Ka Tender.

Late-stage stardom is as unexpected as it is welcome for the 71-year-old actor, who made the time for a video interview while shooting for a Telugu film in Andhra Pradesh. Here are edited excerpts.

What has been the aftermath of Dhurandhar?

A lot of my work was always appreciated, but didn’t get the stamp of love and affection of the audience at large. Now everybody is loving everything I have done over the years. I’d say that they are rediscovering me and noticing everything I have been in.

The films have given my career a big impetus and have also been a great inspiration for a lot of other actors. Which every actor tells me: if we do good work, it will be recognised someday.

You were in Aditya Dhar’s Uri: The Surgical Strike. How did he cast you for a major role in Dhurandhar?

I had one scene in Uri and he liked it very much, He said, I have loved your theatre, all the work you have done for television, I want to give you good work. I think it’s long due to you from the industry.

That was the kind of sentiment he came with, and I really respect him for that. He knew what I could deliver, and he gave me a role that I could deliver well.

You have worked with other directors multiple times, such as David Dhawan, or those you’ve known from your FTII days. Did they not recognise your potential and give you the roles that you deserved?

I have never been a pessimist or complainer. That’s not in my nature, I feel whatever is happening is correct for its time, that’s why it is happening.

If you think that the industry did not value you, or you didn’t get your due, or didn’t get what you deserved, then all these things lead to negativity and frustration. I don’t go into that zone ever.

I believe that whatever is happening is because the time is right. Time decides, your equity decides, the kind of work you have done recently decides which goal you are headed towards. Complaining will just drop you into an abyss of negativity from which you can’t get out.

I never stopped doing theatre, in spite of thousands of TV episodes and hundreds of films. Because you have a one-to-one connect with the audience. Theatre gives you a good way to keep your game alive, to hone and sharpen your impulses, to keep your wit and timing intact.

Which actor is not idle from time to time, without work? But if you keep doing theatre, you never get that feeling. What do I care? I have rehearsals, I have my plays, I have shows. I am busy.

You have been with IPTA for years. Did you find a greater sense of community and belonging in theatre than in the film industry?

It’s not that. But theatre teaches you a lot of stuff. It doesn’t only polish your wit or your wisdom, it also teaches you discipline. It teaches how to create a character and how to play it and how to play it again and again live on stage, how to be in it and how to come out of it the moment the show ends; how to be with the audience and how that camaraderie works.

In theatre, nobody is big, nobody is small. If everybody is serving tea, so am I. I still do. In IPTA, everybody gets paid the same amount, whether you are a star or a newcomer.

You started with a bang with very different roles in Chashme Buddoor and Ek Duuje Ke Liye. How did you think your career would pan out?

I am not complaining, but frankly those times were different. All the production houses, the major award givers never looked beyond the hero and heroine.

A film like Chashme Buddoor, which is as relevant today as it was then – perhaps more so – a film that has been seen multiple times by every generation, won no awards, no special recognition. Why? Because that year some big hero’s film must have done well, so it won the awards.

Now there are more categories – a critics’ award, people’s choice award. Back then, they were not there. So no matter how good your work was, it was not recognised.

The kind of success Chashme Buddoor had did not translate for me. I didn’t get offered major roles. Things were fixed, three-four character actors were in every film. It was difficult to break through that cartel.

That wasn’t my job. Whatever roles I got, I did with total honesty and with the belief that somewhere someday, my work will get noticed. I have always worked with that mindset, without getting into competition, holding on to any grudge, getting into any nonsense, back-biting, bitching or troubling anybody.

I was focussed on my work, Whether it was one scene or ten, I would do it well. One scene in Uri led to my character in Dhurandhar.

The terminology has changed in cinema. Side actors or character actors are now called supporting actors. Has that respect worked for you?

In the last 20 years or so, or you could say with the advent of OTT [streaming] and a lot of international stuff coming on our screens, the perspective has changed. If you look carefully, till the 1990s, our films used to be hero-oriented. The casting used to be like: take one of the four comedians whose dates are available, or whichever older actor is free to do the father’s role or the villain’s henchman role. Nobody thought out of the box for other characters. Everything revolved around the hero.

What was our mainstream? The hero fighting 50 men alone? Singing six songs? There were very few films like Chashme Buddoor, maybe the films of Basuda [Chatterjee] or Hrishida ]Mukherhjee], but they had stars with them. For some reason they were called parallel cinema. What does that mean? Which two lines run parallel? Cinema is cinema, but by calling films parallel, you diminished them.

But when OTT came in and people saw different cinema, they realised, nahin yaar, there is a big world outside. So our films also started changing. Till then our happy ending formula was going on for years.

Your TV shows are now considered iconic. Did you take up television because you were offered exciting roles?

Very right. I was getting meaty roles on TV and I was pulling the strings for almost 20 years in television. Shows like Shriman Shrimati and Yes Boss, five-six top notch serials of that era. They were very popular and still are.

What are the highlights among your 150-odd films?

There was Ahsaas, Hamare Tumhare, and, of course, Chashme Buddoor. Then I did a few David Dhawan films like Hero No 1, which was very big and I had a major role.

But I was waiting for The Role to come my way, and I was waiting very patiently. People ask me sometimes, what were you waiting for? I always say, the role I am doing now is the biggest role of my life. And I have always worked with that conviction.

Whatever the role is, I will do my best, I will give more that the director asks of me. Just work honestly and someday you will be rewarded.

Why did I get a role in the biggest film of the country? Because Aditya Dhar had seen my past work. He called me before the script was even completed. He said, this is the one line of the film, this is your character, keep the dates whenever I ask you.

Did you ever have to audition and go through a casting director, which is the norm now?

I don’t mind doing that. You know why? Whenever I am reluctant to do this, I always remember The Godfather, and that Marlon Brando had auditioned for it. If Brando can audition, why not me?

But the condition is that the role has to be meaty. I cannot audition for some frivolous part. Maybe the director is not testing my talent or my deliverables, maybe it is just my look.

When I am giving an audition, I don’t feel that my talent is on test. My look is on test, my height is on test, the way I will deliver this role is on test. Not that I will do it badly. But let me tell you my biggest films are the ones for which I have not auditioned. It was just a phone call. I picked up the phone and it was Devsaab [Anand] on the line saying, Rakesh, come over to see me tomorrow.

Have you got interesting parts after Dhurandhar?

It’s too early to talk about it. It’s not as if I start working on another film right away.

I don’t depend on a manager to decide what I want to do. I read the script and decide. I don’t go by the length of the role. It needs to have the weight that would justify me selecting it, and I should also enjoy it.