Exclusive: Bamfaad Actor Aditya Rawal Talks About Making His Debut Amid Lockdown, Father Paresh Rawal's Guidance, And, of Course, Nepotism

The first trailer of the upcoming Zee5 film, Bamfaad, presented by Anurag Kashyap, has dropped on the internet. With that, another star kid is all set to make his acting debut. Padma Shri winner Paresh Rawal's son Aditya Rawal is entering the film industry amid the national lockdown. The actor will be seen playing the role of a UP bad boy in the film. In other circumstances, the movie would have had a red carpet premiere, but during the COVID-19 outbreak, a premiere on the streamer is what the film's team has to make do with.

But Aditya finds a silver lining in this situation. In an interview with LatestLY, over the phone, the actor opened up about a variety of subjects. He says that he is fortunate to be able to provide entertainment to the audience during this lockdown. "Honestly, we consider ourselves in a very fortunate situation in a difficult time like this. If we have something that we could give to the audiences who are looking for content to watch and to get entertained," he says.

"As artists, that is the least we could do. Our work is not as important as medical workers and others in essential jobs. Rather, if we could do this much, it is great."

He remains hopeful about a red carpet event sometime in the future. "As far as not having the red carpet and all of that goes, hopefully, there will be opportunities later on in life. It is almost surreal that it is happening in this manner, but it is an experience that not many other artists get to have," he says.

Bamfaad will also be the Hindi film debut for Shalini Pandey. Indian men fell in love with her after her pragmatic performance in the Telugu film, Arjun Reddy. Aditya knows what a rage she is across the country. "She is a fabulous actor. She has done a lot of great work down South. And the experience she brought to the table, the spontaneity she works with - whenever we'd do a scene, she'd be in that space, in that time, in her character immediately," he explains.

Aditya has grown up watching movies by Coen Brothers and Anurag Kashyap. He calls Black Friday, Gangs of Wasseypur and Ashutosh Gowariker's Lagaan his favourites. "I am a huge fan of Coen Brothers. Their way of juxtaposition joy and sadness is something I strive to do as a storyteller," he says. He adds that being a writer himself and being a theatre artist, he understands the craft. "But each time I watch their movie, I feel something I don't understand how they made me feel. I still watch their movies like I am a child," he adds.

Aditya has co-written the recent hit, Panipat. He has also served as an assistant director for a few films.  Ask him about this transition and he says, "I used to play football professionally until I turned 20. Then I decided to make a move into writing and acting. They both, sort of, go hand in hand for me. It was always that I was writing something and doing something on stage. I've been in short films, or anything to keep myself sharp. It is a journey that happened in tandem."

And, of course, he will be facing questions about nepotism from the media for a long time, until the media gets tired of it. "It is understandable that it is asked and is never a problem to answer," Aditya says.

"Nepotism is a part of every business. That said, I am very grateful to the advantages, the kind of access, the kind of support, love and affection I get from people because of their relationship with my father, for all that I am incredibly grateful."

Aditya has learnt a lot from his father Paresh Rawal, whom the nation loves as an actor. Ask the newbie about the one golden advice he received from his father, he says, "He has always given me tips to work on, whether it is just about acting or just being an actor - which are two different things. He always mentioned that even when the camera is not rolling, keep observing, keep thinking about your character, keep looking at people. Everyone around you is fodder for your character. You can always pick up something, learn something from everyone. That is something he said, that stuck with me."

Bamfaad drops on the internet on April 10.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 08, 2020 05:47 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).