Rahul Banerjee: I wish to play a gay character on screen

Currently riding high on the success of Paap: Antim Pawrbo, Rahul Banerjee has expressed his desire to play a gay character on screen. The actor, while talking to OTTplay about his cross-dressing scene, revealed the same.

The actor also revealed that his character in the series was majorly improvised on sets. It was the humour in his character which has garnered the actor a lot of appreciation.

Excerpts from the interview:

What kind of response have you received for Paap?

It’s overwhelming. I didn’t expect people to watch it because of the time gap. I think that was good for the series but we were quite taken aback with the initial reactions. My character, especially, is receiving a great response.

What was your first thought when you read about the character in the script?

The director of the series Joydeep Mukherjee and I share a great bond. It was a homecoming for me.

My first thought was, ‘Chal beta phodna hai (I have to break the barrier).’ It is very seldom that you come across a character like mine. I just wanted to throw the ball outside of the boundary. I’m talking about the graph of the character.

Did you refer to someone while preparing for the character?

Not really.

Did you have to shoot your scenes in one take or there were many retakes?

We didn’t really have much time. We shot the entire series in 9-10 days. We had to concentrate a lot because of the limited time. Having a special tuning with Joydeep da also helped. I believe every good character is a love story between the actor and the director.

You are the only character who brings humour to the show. Did that stress you out?

I actually got a free hand from my director to improvise. There was a scene where Puja falls down and I improvised that. There were many improvisations which happened on the sets.

Does that mean humour wasn’t a part of your character? Because it appeared to be the case...

No, a lot of it was improvised.

Tell me about your revelation scene. What was going on in your mind while performing the scene?

I was sitting in the filthy pond for 2-3 hours. I just wanted to get it over with. It was a night shoot and we had just 2 hours left for sunrise.

You also had to cross-dress in the scene. Were you comfortable doing that?

Yeah, I have no qualms when it comes to acting. Now my only wish which is pending, is to play a closeted gay character on screen.

How was it working with Puja Banerjee?

She is pretty professional and well-behaved.

Tell me about your most memorable moment on the sets.

There were many. We had a lot of fun shooting it. Rajat Ganguly almost thought he would die in one of the scenes and we just scared him even more.

What about your upcoming project as a director?

I’m just waiting for the pandemic to end because my script and cast has been locked.