Rajeev Khandelwal has been receiving rave reviews for his role as Sameer, a cunning cop, in the OTT film ‘Bloody Daddy’ (2023). However, the actor revealed in an interview with IndiaToday.in that he initially rejected the role.
Directed by Ali Abbas Zafar, in ‘Bloody Daddy’, Shahid Kapoor plays a cop who gets involved in a high-stakes drug case with some very dangerous people.
“I said no to Ali because I knew he had options”, Khandelwal said. “He comes from the commercial cinema world and he has options of so many actors. That’s what I told him too. And then I asked him, ‘Why me?’.”
Zafar’s response surprised Khandelwal. “He said that the reason why you are not keen to do it is the reason why I want you to do it,” Khandelwal recalled. “Nobody would expect you to do something like this, and to see you do something like this will be exciting rather than somebody we’d expect.”
The ‘Sultan’ (2016) director’s words slowly convinced Khandelwal to give the role a second thought. “It took him a few phone and video calls to convince me”, Khandelwal said. “After two-three days of thinking about it, I took the plunge.”
The results are here and the gamble paid off. Khandelwal’s performance in ‘Bloody Daddy’ has been met with widespread praise.
His debut film, ‘Aamir’ (2008) is a gripping thriller that explores the themes of terrorism, religious extremism, and the choices that people make in the face of danger. Khandelwal gives a powerful performance as Aamir and the film is well-directed by Raj Kumar Gupta. It opened to rave reviews.
The 47-year-old actor loves travelling and is one of the most underrated actors in Bollywood.
