The recently released web series Raakh has received unanimous appreciation, especially for the performances. Ramandeep Yadav and Akash Makhija, who play the roles of antagonists – Rajjo and Babu respectively – have especially taken the show to dizzying heights. In an exclusive interview with Bollywood Hungama, Ramandeep spoke about the show’s response, how he prepped for the evil character, and much more. In the show, he sent a chill down the spine, but in real life, he’s completely opposite – jovial and very humble.
You put up a story on Instagram featuring a picture of your hoarding installed somewhere in the city. I am sure every actor dreams of having their posters displayed across the city…
A friend of mine sent me that picture. Also, in the show, Babu tells Rajjo, ‘Tu kya Vinod Khanna hai kya ki akkha Mumbai mein tera poster lagega’. I was like, ‘Upar dekho zara. Poster lag chuka hai’ (laughs)!
Another story of yours showed that someone had saved your and Akash’s bald avatar as the wallpaper on his smartwatch! It was quite an amusing sight…
My director, Prosit Roy, noticed it and sent the picture. He asked me, ‘Bhai, yeh kya ho raha hai?’. I simply replied, ‘Bas time accha chal raha hai’!
Recently, Akash Makhija admitted that his wife was deeply affected by his villainous act. How did your family members react to your portrayal of Rajjo?
My elder sister saw the show. She’s married and her son is 3 years old. Their whole family saw Raakh together – my didi, jiju and her in-laws. Didi told me, ‘Bhai, tune mera BP low karwa diya hai’! She said, ‘It’s your show and hence, I had to watch it immediately. But when I saw, I wondered, ‘Kaun hai yeh aadmi? Main taareef karna chahti hoon tere kaam ki lekin mere se ho nahin paa rahi. Mujhe tere pe bahut zyada gussa aa raha hai’! I told her to take her time and assured her that ‘Main Raman hi hoon, Rajjo nahin’ (laughs). So, that’s the effect of this show. When my own family is having such a reaction, though they have known me all my life, this is a huge victory for an artist.
The car scene is crucial and quite brutal as well. How was it shooting it?
We shot the car scene against a digital screen. We had rehearsed for it a day earlier. We sat in the car and decided how we would perform the sequence. Our fight master, Salam Dada (Abdul Owais Abdul Salam Ansari), choreographed the scene and explained how we should execute our movements. On the day of the shoot, we saw that every frame had been storyboarded. The team explained to us in detail how it would be executed. Since there was a storyboard, I assumed that we would go shot by shot. That’s when Prosit sir told us, ‘We’ll shoot it in one take’! I thought he was joking (laughs). But he was serious.
It was the most difficult shoot. We had 4 takes for that scene. There’s a scene where Rajjo hits Sahil (Vivaan Sharma) with a sword. Hence, I got a feeling ki maine kisi ko 4 baar maar diya hai. Even today when I think of that day, I get shivers down my spine.
It was a huge challenge to play Rajjo and difficult for me to get out of the character.
And what about the forest scene?
It was supposed to be raining in that scene. So, the place was quite muddy. The makers had taken precautions, but at the same time, you also need to show that rawness. There’s a sequence where Rajjo dumps Sahil, assuming he’s dead. But then Sahil coughs, which proves that he’s alive. At that moment, Rajjo decides to make sure he finishes him off. Viewers saw it as a wide shot. I imagined it as a close-up, where he keeps assaulting Sahil and Rajjo’s eyes are red. I knew this wouldn’t get communicated to the audience. But Rajjo made sure Sahil didn’t have to suffer much and died instantly. If it had been Babu, woh usko tadap-tadap ke marne ke liye chhodta. However, Rajjo is someone who would opt for the lesser evil. Unlike Babu, he was not as brutal initially. He became brutal gradually.
We see the whole backstory of Babu and how he became evil. But there’s no such flashback for Rajjo; his past is communicated through words. Was there a proper flashback track for your character at some point in the script?
I got three drafts of the script and the final draft is what made it to the screen. In the first two drafts, his past was chronicled in detail. It said that he was from Haryana, aspired to be an actor and had been forced to undergo a vasectomy. Then, we created a story about how he met Pyare Mohan (Mukund Pal). Moreover, he’s from Sonipat, a place where men tend to flex their masculinity. And here is someone who has undergone a vasectomy. So, imagine the humiliation he must have gone through. That is the reason why he left Haryana.
This is the backstory we created for Rajjo during the acting workshop. We tried to find a justification for his actions. He’s a person who’s barely noticeable in a crowd. He craves validation and he gets it from Babu. He shares a toxic relationship with Babu. Perhaps, he feels, ‘Maybe this is wrong, but at least, this person is there for me’. When it comes to survival, a man will do anything. I tried to bring these aspects to the fore and humanize the character of Rajjo. He should not just come across as a criminal. Somewhere, the audience also assumes that since he’s not inherently evil, he might stop Babu from committing heinous acts. However, when he commits murder for the first time, he gets an adrenaline rush and, according to him, he feels like a man. He tastes blood and then starts doing it more. Even what he does with the family in Agra, he starts enjoying it.
Once he gets nabbed, he realizes where he went wrong and that he could have avoided going down that path. There’s a scene where Pyare Mohan tells him, ‘Rajjo, chal mere saath’. He had an option to leave Babu. However, he didn’t do so.
There’s a scene where Rajjo goes bald. Did you shave your head for real?
It was prosthetics. Kudos to our make-up team if you felt we shaved our heads for real. It used to take us 3 hours to apply the prosthetics. We were shooting non-linear and hence, going bald was not an option. If our call time was 7:00 am, we would wake up at 4:00 am. We would be sleepy when the prosthetics were applied to us. It was even more draining for the HMU team. If they were meeting me at 4:00 am, they must be waking up at 1:00 am or 2:00 am for their prep.
There’s a picture on social media where we see Sonali Bendre’s character posing with you and Akash Makhija. Both of you are seen holding your ears, as if being punished. Tell us about how the picture was clicked and why?
(Laughs) Almost the whole cast had assembled for the court scene when the final verdict is pronounced. It was Sonali ma’am’s wrap that day. In a lighter vein, we asked for a pic with her to show the aam junta ki hum maafi maang rahe hai unse!
How was it meeting Sonali Bendre?
She was very sweet, humble and supportive. The same goes for Ali Fazal sir and Aamir Bashir sir as well. I shared a story on Instagram where I say that I have healed myself and now it’s the time for viewers to watch Raakh and get healed. Aamir sir commented, ‘Waah bhai. Dard bhi tu aur davaa bhi tu’ (laughs)!
Who from the industry has reached out to you after watching Raakh?
Adarsh Gourav texted me saying that he found my performance to be one of the best he has ever seen. I was speechless because coming from him, it means a lot. Look at his work in The White Tiger (2021) or Superboys Of Malegaon (2025). His journey gives me hope that things do get better.
Then, Karan Johar sir posted about Raakh. I had never imagined that would happen. My friend called me and said, ‘Tera show fatt gaya’. I asked him why. He replied, ‘Karan Johar ne post daala hai’! I was on cloud nine!
Guneet Monga ma’am said that I was brilliant. To get such a compliment from an Oscar winner and someone exposed to global cinema, it means a lot. Shoojit Sircar sir also praised. I sometimes feel I am dreaming. Agar yeh sapna hai, toh main sapne mein hi rehna chahta hoon (smiles).
What next?
I have done a show for JioHotstar. I hope viewers get to see me in a different light and in a role which is completely different from Rajjo!
The post EXCLUSIVE: Ramandeep Yadav on playing Rajjo in Raakh: “My sister told me, ‘My BP dropped after seeing your villainous act'”; opens up on Karan Johar’s praise: “I was on cloud nine; my friend said, ‘Tera show fatt gaya'” appeared first on Bollywood Hungama.
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