Gajraj Rao says filmmakers 'assumed audiences wanted item numbers', brought limitations to Indian cinema

Actor Gajraj Rao has been slowly carving his niche as the everyman in slice-of-life stories. The veteran actor has been garnering praise for Dabba Cartel and will next be seen in Prime Video's Dupahiya. Talking about the proliferation of rooted content on Indian streaming, Gajraj tells HT how the landscape of Indian storytelling has changed. (Also read: Gajraj Rao says he doesn't feel bad about staying in 5-star hotels: ‘I’ve worked hard for 25-30 years’)

Gajraj Rao on item numbers in cinema

Indian cinema has seen a change towards rooted, relatable storytelling after a boom of larger-than-life sagas in the 90s and 2000s. Gajraj says, "There was a time when we watched Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Basu Chatterjee, and Sai Paranjape's films. There was a whole phase of cinema in the middle where limitations came into play. The fear of the Friday came in. Makers wanted item numbers. The audiences did not change, but the makers' thinking changed. They assumed that this is what the audiences want. Due to that, everything became more limited."

Gajraj Rao on Dupahiya

The actor says that now streaming scene in India is also moving past showing only crime and violence, picking lighter shows like Dupahiya. "OTT has freed that by bringing shows similar to Nukkad and Buniyaad. This is such a huge buffet that it has something for everyone. You can watch whatever you want." he explains.

About Dupahiya

Dupahiya is set in a small village in the heartland of India where the two-wheeler represents the aspirations of the middle class. How a stolen two-wheeler leads to a comedy of errors is the crux of this story. The show also stars Renuka Shahane, Shivani Raghuvanshi, Sparsh Srivastava, and Bhuvan Arora. It will premiere on Prime Video from March 7.

Directed by Hitesh Bhatia, Dabba Cartel released on Netflix February 28. It also stars Shabana Azmi, Jyotika, Nimisha Sajayan, Shalini Pandey, Anjali Anand, Sai Tamhankar and Lillete Dubey.