Rajat Barmecha On Playing Radhika Madan's Brother in Kacchey Limbu: 'SRK, Aishwarya Rai Did It...' | Exclusive

When two actors of the same generation play siblings onscreen, it often raises eyebrows. Last year, Mrunal Thakur exclusively told News18 that she was dissuaded by filmmakers from playing Ishaan Khatter’s sister in the upcoming war drama, Pippa, and that her decision was even termed as ‘stupid’ by many. And the latest to join the league are Rajat Barmecha and Radhika Madan. The duo play siblings in their latest outing, Kacchey Limbu, a sports drama which explores their relationship as they find themselves on competing cricket teams.

In an exclusive chat with News18, Rajat, however, says that he had no qualms about playing Radhika’s brother and that he doesn’t believe that images created from onscreen portrayals can spill over in real life and come in the way of getting work. “I don’t believe in this. We’re both professional actors, who will do any character that comes our way. In Kacchey Limbu, we play a brother-sister duo and we gave it our all as two people and actors who are deeply invested in their jobs,” he says.

Reiterating how their sibling camaraderie in the film won’t stop them from playing romantic interests in the future, the 34-year-old states, “Tomorrow, if a film comes our way, where we are required to play each other’s love interests, it will involve a completely different strategy.”

Further explaining his point, Rajat cites the example of Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan who might have collaborated for the first time as siblings but then went on to win hearts with their chemistry as star-crossed lovers in Mohabbatein (2000) and Devdas (2002). “The most famous and common example that I can think of is Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai. They played brother and sister in the film, Josh (2000). We’ve also seen them romancing each other in other films. Their romance in Mohabbatein completely convinced the audience,” he says.

He feels that the audience today has evolved and aren’t quick to believe what they see two fictional characters do onscreen. “I don’t feel there should be restriction when it comes to this [playing any kinds of characters]. I don’t think this image [of us being each other’s onscreen siblings] can come in the way. Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai did it long back. And even now, we, as audiences, are way more advanced. We know that it’s part of the job. I don’t think people make up images like in this in their heads, they are very understanding,” Rajat elaborates.

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He kick-started his career with the critically acclaimed Udaan (2010), a film about a boarding school returned son and his toxic and oppressive father. Though Udaan and Kacchey Limbu are starkly different from each other in terms of their narrative and treatment, the one thread connecting them is the theme of familial expectations. Did this thought occur to him when he signed Kacchey Limbu? “I didn’t think of it this way. I didn’t feel that they were similar even in terms of their themes but the only thing is that I always get a father who wants me to do something else. And we all made fun of it,” Rajat tells us.

He further adds, “When I read the script of Kacchey Limbu, I told (Shubham) Yogi (director) that even this film has a confrontation scene between my character and his father where they are talking about their ideas and thoughts being very different. In a fun way, I think that was the only similar thread between Udaan and Kacchey Limbu. But other than that, even the characters of the fathers in both the films are completely different. In Kacchey Limbu, my father’s character is chilled out and my character also has less baggage here.”

The film is currently streaming on JioCinema. ​