Rajkummar Rao Quotes

Comedy and horror are cousins; they're related. They both come from storytellers who want to specifically affect the audience and elicit specific reactions during the movie.

I am not doing comedy because the genre is successful. If that was the case, I would have done a run-of-the-mill comedy film. I set my own trends. I like to give something new and different to my audiences. I want to do the kind of comedy that has been missing till now.

Horror comedy - very rare in Bollywood.

The Punjabi industry lacks a lot in terms of good production houses and actors.

Whether it was 'Gangs Of Wasseypur' or whether it's 'LSTCK,' the characters are real, and when you see them on screen, you can identify with them.

I really geek out with horror and like to delve into the subgenres, whether it's comedy or slasher or sci-fi.

In Bollywood, people have been making movies for more than half a century and they are made in such a way that you need not shed off all your inhibitions.

In 'Stree,' I play a character who believes that he knows everything. And I play a cop in 'Drive.' It is a different kind of a role. It is not a uniform-wearing character. The film is interesting, since it is a thriller.

My favorite zany horror flick is 'Evil Dead 2.' Sam Raimi is awesome! I saw this back in the day when I was younger. 'Evil Dead' was actually scary, and 'Evil Dead 2' was zany as hell. I don't really watch 'Army of Darkness' though.

Loads of stuff that I've done has always had a hint of comedy. I did this show called 'Psychoville' that's a horror-comedy. Because I just think that's what life's like.

It's something I've recognized in the careers of those people who have been inspiring to me over the years - Neil Young, Kate Bush, David Bowie, Frank Zappa, and Prince. These are all people who constantly redefined themselves, and had to deal with the difficulty of trying to take their audience with them when they did that.

Hollywood thrillers give away almost 70 percent of the story in promos but still the film remains interesting. In India we do a lot of cuts and put in songs in promos to create an impact.

I always say that the horror genre and the comedy genre are close cousins because they are the two genres where you are attempting to elicit an involuntary vocal response from a crowd of people and you instantly know whether it's working or not.

With 'The Humans,' I've found that because it's related to very familiar forms - the family play and the thriller, almost a genre-collison play - some people want it to be one or the other. Either less dark and more of a family comedy or a full-fledged thriller with blood and ghosts jumping out of closets. Everyone's taste is different.

Theatre has been a sort of hobby. I regret that I am not active, but given my job that is difficult. But those were learning days. The learning curve was the level of confidence, maturity, and reflexes that theatre teaches you is fantastic. You are alone in front of an audience for two hours and that gives you a different kind of confidence.

Films will break barriers - and good films will travel all over India.

If you look at Indian cinema, it has always been about the 'hero.' So it is not just a characteristic of the Kannada film industry in particular. But one of the reasons to explain the 'hero-centrism' in our industry could be the fact that the audience here really enjoys the action sequences and the 'punch' dialogues.

For an Indian audience a double role promises twice the entertainment with somebody they enjoy watching on screen.

My South Indian audience matters to me a lot, so I like when they watch my Bollywood films. It feels great.

Women directors in India have mostly made niche films. Naturally, those films have a limited market.

The pleasantly crude 'Hall Pass' reminds us of what's been missing from movies: Those squirm-inducing moments in comedy that produce enough discomfort that, at points, what we're watching is half a heartbeat away from a horror film.

What was so lovely about 'O.J.' and 'This Is Us' to a certain extent is that I got a chance to surprise people.

I like to play with transgression and upending conventions, and I like the idea of rooting genre films in character.

'Blood Money' was a stand-alone film, but we worked double for it. We realised how difficult it is to sensitise people to anything new, especially when you don't have a star.

'Stree' is a horror comedy in which a bridal ghost who is back in town to take revenge from men, she is the one giving a lot of pain to the men. We have reversed the role, which is such an amazing feeling.