Actor Raj Arjun, who plays the titular role in the web series Sabka Sai, says meditation is a way of life for him

Mona

What you think, you become, is the dictum actor Raj Arjun lives by. The same has been his idea of getting into the skin of the characters he essays. So, to play titular role in web series Sabka Sai, the first thing he did was to empty his bedroom of everything and place pictures of Sai on the walls. “Believe it or not, if you dwell on someone too long, even your features start getting similar.”

It was not an easy role to take up. The offer to play Sai had come to Raj twice, before MX Player approached him. “I never thought I was ready to shoulder such a big responsibility,” he says. Comfortable in negative roles, the idea of becoming a saint was baffling for him. So much so that when he first held a meeting for Sabka Sai, he thought he was called for the role of a daku! “Brijesh Karanwal had mentioned about the show and shared how I would be cast in a daku’s’ role; I was already flexing my muscles, knowing that it was my space to shine in. But as the meeting progressed and I was offered the lead role, I was hesitant,” Raj admits. As the role came to him for the third time, Raj accepted it as Sai’s will and put in all his efforts to play the role.

“I am deeply spiritual; meditation is a way of life for me,” says the Secret Superstar actor. The series was delayed due to the pandemic before the shoot could finally be completed. For the director of Sabka Sai, Ajit Bhairavkar, Raj says, “He scarcely praises you; one literally has to dig for compliments. Ajit is from Shirdi and his research was thorough. Together each night after the shoot, we would minutely examine every scene for the day next.”

Passion for acting

Hailing from a business family, Raj feels passionate about acting and before coming to Mumbai had done theatre in his hometown Bhopal for more than a decade. It is only after years of struggle that he was noticed. “Recognition has come late for me. Secret Superstar gave me an identity and work followed,” he says. While he would next be seen in Thalaivi and Love Hostel, he also got work in South-Indian films after Secret Superstar. “I got a Tamil film first, then Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada. I feel so fortunate that I could work in all these languages,” says Raj, who will soon be seen in Malayalam film Khajuraho Dreams. “My approach to a character remains the same; however, I have to work thrice as hard as I don’t know these languages,” he says.

Already working on other web shows, he is overwhelmed with the response he got for Sabka Sai, released on August 26 on MX Player. The Season 1 has 10 episodes, and Raj is hopeful that Season 2 will soon be a reality.

mona@tribunemail.com