Key Points

Rao is considered to be one of the bankable stars of India today. With critically acclaimed performances in 'Shahid', 'Aligarh' and 'Trapped', the actor quickly made a name for himself as an artist who could maintain a balance between art-driven films and mainstream cinema.

But post the success of 'Stree', the horror-comedy that became a surprise hit at the box office, Rao's filmography took a noticeable commercial turn.

In an interview with ANI, the actor admitted that the parallel cinema films like 'Trapped' have stopped "reaching him" lately.

"Of course, as an actor, I love doing it ( movie like 'Trapped'), I would still love to do it, but those kinds of stories are not reaching me, to be honest," said Rajkummar Rao.

However, it's not that the actor has turned his back on independent cinema. The 'Stree' actor said that he doesn't prefer to desperately chase the low-budget films just for the sake of nostalgia.

"I don't want to do it just for the sake of it. I should do a smaller film just because I haven't done it in a while. I always look for good, exciting stories, and a story has to do something within me for me to say yes to it," said Rajkummar Rao.

The actor shared his thought process before selecting the film and said that it is based on three factors. A film's "budget" is not one of them, he added.

"I never see the budget of the film, how big is this film. For me, it's the story, the director, and the producer; these three things are the only things that matter to me while saying yes to it," added Rajkummar.

The actor will be next seen in the film 'Maalik', which also stars Manushi Chillar and Prosenjit Chatterjee in the lead roles. The movie is a gangster drama directed by Pulkit.

It will be the first movie for Manushi in 2025. Before this, she had worked in films like 'Samrat Prithviraj', 'The Great Indian Family', 'Operation Valentine' and Bade Miyan Chote Miyan'.

Manushi Chillar first garnered headlines after she won the Miss World beauty pageant in 2017. With this accolade, the actress has now joined the list of Indian actresses who have ventured into Bollywood after making their name at beauty pageants.

While talking to ANI, Manushi opened up about her decision to enter the Bollywood industry and not continue fashion modelling after winning the Miss World in 2017 at the age of 20 years.

"I don't think my goal was ever to become a supermodel. Hence, probably, I never thought about it. I was studying to be a doctor. I went into pageantry, and Miss World was a big dream, which came true. When you're at 20, when you have a platform like that, then you want to see what's next and you want to build a career," said Manushi

The actress calls herself a "newcomer" as she started her film career three years ago with Akshay Kumar's 'Samrat Prithviraj'.

"I pretty much started from scratch when I came to films, and I am building. I still feel my career started three years ago, because that's when my first film was released. And that's how I see myself. I see myself as a newcomer there," said Manushi Chillar.

Manushi is playing the character of Shalini, wife of Shahid Kapoor, in the movie. As for Prosenjit Chatterjee, he is playing the character of a cop in the film. The movie is set to release in theatres on July 11.

- ANI