Rajat Bedi is back in the spotlight, and how! After over 15 years, the actor has made a smashing return with Aryan Khan’s directorial debut series The Ba***ds Of Bollywood. Riding high on the overwhelming praise coming his way, the actor reveals the conversation he had with Shah Rukh Khan before saying yes to the role, and one specific condition he got Aryan to agree to before signing the dotted line.

On the response

Many still remember Rajat for his role in Koi… Mil Gaya, alongside Hrithik Roshan, Preity Zinta and Rekha. However, there was a time when he decided to step away from the spotlight and move to Canada for several years. Now, he is back in the limelight and winning praise for his portrayal of Jaraj Saxena in The Ba***ds of Bollywood, a fading actor struggling to hold on to his relevance.

He has emerged as one of the brightest stars of the show, earning praise from audiences and critics alike. In fact, he has climbed up from 954th to the 9th position on IMDb India.

“The feedback has been crazy and overwhelming. My whole family is exposed to it now… I feel very blessed right now. I recently called Aryan an angel in my post on Instagram, and I genuinely believe that,” Rajat tells us.

He continues, “People are appreciating my acting more than my looks. They are loving my performance. Apart from the audience, people from the industry are also calling me to discuss my performance. Vivek Agnihotri messaged me on Instagram saying ‘What a great resurrection’… Harshvardhan Rane messaged me.”

According to Rajat, his role has turned out to be an inspiration for people, quoting one of his lines from the show, “Haarne aur har maanne mein farak hota hai (There’s a difference between losing and accepting defeat).”

“I have technically come back after 20 years, and people are saying, ‘He’s had patience, determination, and now look at his comeback’. That has inspired so many… It has positively impacted, and it’s everything to do with Aryan,” says the actor, who has also worked in projects such as International Khiladi, Jodi No.1, Jaani Dushman: Ek Anokhi Kahani, Chor Machaaye Shor and Indian.

On how he got the role

Rajat admits that he was looking for work for the past three years, but had no idea Aryan had a role for him in mind for his directorial debut. Aryan actually reached out to him and requested him to come to the office.

“Aryan was very sure that he wanted me for this role… Because of what he saw in Koi… Mil Gaya when he was a kid. That was one of the inspirations for him and I just fit into the character completely. If you see the show, there’s a lot of connection with my journey.”

Here, the actor reveals the scenes with spoofing device scenes are inspired from Jaani Dushman, and the basketball scene comes wrapped with Koi… Mil Gaya nostalgia.

On his condition before working with Aryan

Looking back at his meeting with Aryan, Rajat says, “His production team reached out to me through some common connection. I was in Canada and I was like ‘What? Aryan wants to meet me’. I thought I was dreaming.”

In fact, Rajat did not know how big or small his role was because it was not written, with the actor putting “it was just a thought in Aryan’s head”. Rajat started his film career as an assistant director on Zamaana Deewana, which featured Shah Rukh.

“Aryan’s friends told me at the premiere that he was nervous to meet me. Aryan was preparing for days to meet me and how he’s going to tell me about the role… But the thing is that he had me at hello… When Aryan sat me down and he ran me through what he’s doing, I was so overwhelmed and excited. I asked him to call his father.”

Talking about the conversation he had with Shah Rukh, Rajat shares, “I spoke to Shah Rukh and ‘Sir, what have you done? Aapka beta kya bana raha hai (what is your son making). Shah Rukh sir told me ‘Dekh le tereko karna hai toh mera beta kuch kar raha hai (My son is making something, see if you want to do it).”

However, Rajat had just one condition before he said yes to Aryan. “I said, ‘Aryan. I’ll only do your thing, if you will allow my son to assist you. I started my career with your father. My son will start his career with you’. He said, done sir… So, we had this whole deal in place and my son was with him the last 2 years.”

Rajat admits that he is now flooded with offers, but wants to take his time and carefully choose the right project for his next move.