EXCLUSIVE: Rajesh Kumar speaks about getting stereotyped for his Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai image: I am a spiderman, caught in its own web

Television actor, Rajesh Kumar rose to fame after he portrayed the character of ‘Rosesh Sarabhai’ in the popular sitcom Sarabhai vs Sarabhai. He later went on to feature in movies like Student of The Year 2, and Haddi, among others. However, his character of Rosesh continues to rule hearts. In an exclusive chat with Bollywood Bubble, the actor opened up about being stereotyped for Rosesh’s image and the secret behind his voice. He also shared how the show gained recognition 4-5 years after its release.

Rajesh Kumar on getting stereotyped for Rosesh’s image

In the candid chat, Rajesh Kumar shared how he got stereotyped after playing Rosesh in Sarabhai vs Sarabhai and no one wanted to experiment with him despite success. He said, “After a point, that character’s success didn’t translate workwise for me. Ek point aaya ki people were not ready to experiment with me. Bade bade casting agencies ne bola tha mujhe ki sir roles toh bahut aate hai, aisa lagta hai ki aap fit karte ho lekin image kaise break kare. Toh maine bola ek baar mauka do tab hoga. (There came a point when directors and producers were not ready to experiment with me. Renowned casting egents told me that they have roles in which I fit in, but they are not able to break the Rosesh image. I insisted them to atleast give me a chance).”

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He further said, “When it comes to OTT and films, I feel they have to see me in different light. Uss samay Sarabhai se yahi ek issue ho gaya tha ki wo image break karna. Tabhi mai bolta hu ki wo aisa spiderman tha jo khud ke hi web me phas gaya tha (At that time, breaking image became an issue. That’s why I say, I was a spiderman of Sarabhai vs Sarabhai who got caught in its own web).

The secret behind Rosesh’s voice

Regarding how he modulated and changed the voice for Rosesh’s character, Rajesh said, “The whole journey was to reach there. For the first 4 episodes, we shot for 8 days. So, one gets less time to evolve. And after those 4 episodes, the storyline changed a bit. So, the whole journey was about evolving.”

‘Sarabhai gained recognition 4 years after release’, says Rajesh Kumar

The actor also revealed how the show gained success after 4 years. He shared, “Jab 2005 me show release hua and 2008-09 tak toh logo ko pata hi nahi tha ki aisa koi show hai (When the show released in 2005, people were unaware of it till 2008-09). It took good 4 years to get recognized after it was released. Fir uske baad pata chala 21 re-runs hue uske (After that we learned that the show had 20 re-runs). Infact when second season happened in 2015-16, that time OTT platforms were not a thing. Then Sarabhai became the catalyst to boost TRP of Hotstar.”

Watch the full interview here:

Also Read: EXCLUSIVE: Rajesh Kumar opens up on his scenes being cut from Student of the Year 2: Post that, I went into farming for 5 years