Rajkummar Rao on romancing ghosts, experimenting and not taking it easy

If you think you have seen it all, wait for Rajkummar Rao's next. Watch the film, sleep and repeat.

As fascinating as the process might be for a viewer, the versatile actor says navigating different characters with every film doesn't come naturally to him, but it is a risk worth taking.

After tickling the funny bone in 2018's blockbuster "Stree", Rao is gearing for his second release this year, "Judgementall Hai Kya", in which he will be seen channelling a man with swag -- muscles, beard and piercing. His first release this year was "Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga".

Rao's funny yet sensitive playwright Sahil Mirza of "Ek Ladki" has given way to a crackpot casanova in Judgmentall Hai Kya's Keshav.

"I'm still exploring what all bones are there in my body. When I did 'Omerta', I didn't know that I could be so dark inside, in this one I didn't know I could be this swag guy.

"You surprise yourself by playing such characters. That's the whole fun of being an actor. I think it was more about the way my character was written in the 'Judgementall Hai Kya' script. I just had to play it honestly, so the credit goes to the script," he told PTI in an interview here.

Directed by Prakash Kovelamudi, the film is a whodunit written by Kanika Dhillon.

The actor has a slate of diverse line-up of films coming up -- "Made in China", "Turram Khan" with frequent collaborator Hansal Mehta, "Roohi Afza" and Anurag Basu's untitled anthology.

He is enjoying the ride but not taking it easy, he said.

"What I'm liking about doing all these films is that I'm adding some new element to my characters. I don't want people to feel that they have seen this stuff earlier. I'm pushing myself, it's risky but I'm enjoying it. I'm not just taking it easy, it's not coming naturally to me, but it's a lot of fun."
"The kind of work Hansal sir and I have done together, this one is in a very different space. It's a small town-based aspirational story. It should be out this year too."
"She is someone whom I will call whenever I'm in trouble and I know she would be there and it's vice versa. They are all really young bunch of talented people whose only focus is to how to make their film reach out to the audience."