I salute Varun Dhawan, Rajkummar Rao and Ayushmann Khurrana: Paresh RawalNov 11 (AZINS) In his career spanning over three decades, Paresh Rawal has given several memorable performances. The versatile artiste has portrayed villainous, comic as well as powerful character roles with equal aplomb. Now, he is happy that the younger lot of actors are breaking the barriers when it comes to their roles. They aren’t shying away from portraying character roles as well as those with grey shades.

The 63-year-old is appreciating artistes who are making intelligent choices. He says, “I salute young actors like Rajkummar Rao, Ayushmann Khurrana and Varun Dhawan who are doing exceptionally good work. Take the case of Varun, for instance. He has managed to strike a balance between commercial and not-so-commercial movies. He did October, along with Sui Dhaaga: Made In India and Judwaa 2. Earlier, actors would never have so much courage.”

Likewise, Rajkummar, who started out as a character artiste, has been shining bright in movies such as Newton, Bareilly Ki Barfi and Stree. Ayushmann, on the other hand, has acted in films such as Shubh Mangal Saavdhaan, AndhaDhun and the recently-released Badhaai Ho.

In fact, Paresh was all praises for the Amit Sharma directorial on his Twitter account. He had tweeted, “Badhai Ho is like a cool breeze on a hot humid day — an endearing n delightful family entertainer -congrats @iAmitRSharma for the magic superb performances (sic).” Ask him, if today’s actors are uninhibited due to content-rich movies lapped up by viewers, and he replies, “The audiences were always ready for such kind of movies. But we weren’t offering such fare to them. Now that we are giving it to them, they are loving it. It has proved that irrespective of how big a star you are, you have to play a character. A star can no longer pull off a film on the basis of his star power, he has to play a solid character.”

‘SANJU WASN’T WHITEWASHED’

Earlier, this year, Paresh was seen in Rajkumar Hirani’s Sanju as Sunil Dutt, while Ranbir Kapoor played Sanjay Dutt’s part. While their performances were appreciated, many felt that it ‘whitewashed’ Sanjay’s chequered past.

However, Paresh is quick to dismiss such feedback and says, “Sanju (referring to Sanjay) has completed his sentence. He had served his time, after which the film was made. Had it been made before the completion of his tenure, then we could say that it was whitewashed. Whatever is there in the public domain has been depicted in the film. Every person has an emotional thread and when it snaps, it propels him to commit a crime. So, how can anyone say that the movie has ‘whitewashed’ him?”

‘URI IS A BRAVE FILM’

Now, the Padma Shri recipient is looking forward to his next project, Uri: The Surgical Strike, which opens in cinemas in January 2019. The military drama is based on the Indian Army’s surgical strikes on terror launch pads across the Line of Control (LOC). In this film, the actor plays Ajit Doval, the National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister of India.

Quiz him about this movie, whose teaser has got a positive response, and the actor says, “I’m excited to be a part of it. It showcases the indomitable spirit of the armed forces, who show a lot of grit, courage and determination in the face of adversities. It’s difficult to make a war film that is truthful and authentic, but writer-director Aditya Dhar has managed to do so.”