A degree college professor teaching complicated terms like DNA fingerprinting, genetics and biotechnology was Jaunpur-based actor Raj Yadav’s previous profession. But he felt some transformation in him to try his hand at acting and has now impressed the audience with his effective performance in the recent ‘Sabki Bajegi Band’.
In Raj’s case, it was not one but two popular personalities who spotted the talent in him who inspired and backed him. Raj told media, “I started working out and enrolled for acting classes to learn the nuances of acting. But the biggest motivation came from dance master Terence Lewis when I joined his classes and starting performing with him at various events. When he looked at me, he instantly identified the talent in me.”
The other inspiration came in the form of Juhi Babbar. Raj elaborates, “When I met Juhi, she urged me to join her theatre worksop Ek Jut. I performed several plays for her and even replaced popular actors Sushant Singh Rajput and Arya Babbar in many of them. “
While Raj was giving his best for another of Ek Jut’s play, ‘Dauda Dauda Bhaga Baga Sa’, his destiny was being written by someone from the audience. Raj says, “RJ director Anirudh Chawla and producer Yusuf Shaikh were extremely impressed with my effort in the play and called me for an audition and subsequently I bagged Sabki Bajegi Band. And this has been undoubtedly the turning point of my career as it was completely unexpected. “
Speaking about his character Randy, Raj says, “I was offered two roles, but I chose Randy as it has diverse shades including humourous, positive as well as negative shades. The makers wanted kaminapan but not the usual one but the honesty kaminapan portrayed by stars like Ranjeet and Prem Chopra. The film is about 12 industry celebrities who reveal all their interesting secrets on camera in a farmhouse. I’m playing a very popular character whose name starts from I and who is a Casanova, playboy and is known for all the wrong reasons.”
Raj is floored by the response that the film and his performance have garnered. He said, “The film managed an excellent opening and is now running in its 2nd week and might also go into the third week. And for my character Randy, the appreciation has come from all over including places like Kolkata, Punjab and Delhi. People I meet on the roads are calling me Randy rather than my actual name and are repeating my dialogues from the film which is so flattering.”
His confident performance has handed Raj his second film. He said, “My Guru Kishor Namit Kapoor was extremely impressed with my performance in Sabki Bajegi Band and he instantly asked me to star in his son’s debut horror directorial. Being my guru, I couldn’t refuse him, in fact I’m honoured to be asked by him. The character is completely different from Randy and this gives me another opportunity to prove my potential.”
