Taking things step by step: Aditya Rawal on his acting career

Actor Aditya Rawal, who has garnered acclaim for his nuanced performance in Hansal Mehta’s “Faraaz” and most recently in Suresh Triveni’s “Subedaar” opposite Anil Kapoor, says he is seeking versatility in his career.

The 32-year-old actor, son of actors Paresh Rawal and Swaroop Sampat, debuted in 2020 with ZEE5 original film “Bamfaad” and was most recently seen in “Daldal”, an OTT series and “Subedaar”.

“It feels great that people have liked my work. But I don’t necessarily see it as carving out a niche (for myself). The idea is simply to take things step by step, choose the right projects, collaborate with the right people, and audition for the right roles. Each project builds on itself. My goal is always to choose work that interests me and try to remain as versatile as possible,” Aditya told PTI in an interview.

The actor said all his upcoming projects are different from his past work.

“I’m doing Hansal Mehta sir’s ‘Gandhi’ and that’s miles away from what I did in ‘Faraaz’ with him,” the actor said.

While audiences have mostly seen him in intense roles so far, Aditya said he is keen to do comedy next.

In “Subedaar”, the actor plays the role of Prince, who he describes as a flamboyant, unpredictable and unapologetically attention-seeking man.

The audience response has amused him.

“I’ve never enjoyed people telling me they hate me,” he said, adding, he is also happy that his actor parents, Paresh Rawal and Swaroop Sampat have liked his recent work.

The conversations at home are more analytical, Aditya said.

“We often analyse our work for hours after watching it. Like, my father particularly enjoyed my work in ‘Daldal’, while my mother loved ‘Subedaar’.”

“Subedaar” marks his second collaboration with director Suresh Triveni after the OTT series “Daldal”, which released on January 30.

Aditya, who began his journey in the industry as a writer in 2017 with a short film, “The Mailbox”, said his collaboration with Triveni began as a writing partnership and later the director pitched him the idea of “Subedaar” and “Daldal”, created by Triveni and directed by Amrit Raj Gupta.

“He saw my first film ‘Bumfaad’ and said, ‘I want to work with you.’ We started writing something together. ‘Faraaz’ came out and he enjoyed my work, then he told me about ‘Subedaar’.

“I tested for it but it got pushed by a few months. By that point, ‘Daldal’ came, I was happy that sir considered me for that,” said the actor, who also wrote two films for his father Paresh Rawal — “Dear Father” (2022) and “Jo Tera Hai Woh Mera Hai” (2024).

One of the highlights of “Subedaar” for Aditya was sharing screen space with Anil Kapoor. He described the veteran actor’s energy as infectious.

The actor said though he was not intimidated working with Kapoor but there were moments of hesitation particularly in a confrontation scene.

“I held back the first time when I had to do that scene with him. But he took me aside and said, ‘Just do it. Don’t worry about me.’ That kind of generosity makes a huge difference,” he said.