Talking with Subhash K Jha, Rajkummar Rao talks about his film Toaster, his project about cricket player Sourav Ganguly in DADA and what else he has in store.
Could you sum up your slate of releases this year?
Toaster is special in many ways. It’s our first production under Kampa Films. Patralekhaa has produced it. And I’ve so many friends who are in the film. It’s a light-hearted comedy that I am sure will connect with people. After Toaster, it’s RAFTAAR, which is our first theatrical film, then NIKAM, which is also completed, which is a Biopic of Mr. Ujjwal Nikam. It’s a courtroom drama and currently am filming for DADA Sourav Ganguly story.
Toaster is your first release this year. Are you feeling anxious?
Yes, Toaster is my first release, and I’m excited about it. It’s a quirky, fun film, a dark comedy, something that I enjoy doing as an actor. No, it doesn’t make me anxious, actually. I’m very excited because I am coming back and in a comedy after almost a year, and also this is Kampa’s first production, which Patralekhaa has produced, so that makes it even more special.
Before 2026, you had a plethora of releases. Have you slowed down deliberately?
Yes, actually I’m making a conscious effort to slow down my work and the plan is to do two films a year, but of course never say never if there’s a really exciting script with a great filmmaker. I might do one more, but this is the plan as of now. So this year there is Toaster then there will be Raftaar, which is our first theatrical production and then there will be NIKAM, my next biopic after Srikanth, but after that there’ll be a long gap before DADA releases. So, the plan is to do less work, but work that I really enjoy doing and which excites me as an actor. And I get a lot of prep time because I want to do challenging work now. I want to do work that scares me, that makes me nervous, and there’s a lot of prep that is required, so that’s the plan.
You are playing Sourav Ganguli, is that a big responsibility?
Of course, I’m playing Sourav Ganguli, and that’s a big responsibility. There’s a lot of preparation that was needed, and my Cricket training has been going on for months. It was difficult to learn to play left-handed, and yeah, I like working on the detailing for my characters. Watched hours and hours of his videos. I personally also met him spent time with him got to know him asked him a lot of questions. When you do a biopic, of course, there is a lot of research that’s required, and playing Dada comes with a big responsibility, as he has changed the way the Indian cricket team functions. There’s a lot of homework that’s needed, and it’s exactly what I’ve done with DADA. I am extremely excited about it. Little nervous, also, but excited to portray his inspiring life on screen.
