Sanjay Dutt is a great teacher; Raaj Singh Arora
Raaj, who has been known for his role in the web series 'Karle Tu Bhi Mohabbat', was seen in a Netflix original 'Torbaaz' along with Sanjay Dutt.
'Torbaaz' is the story of one man who rises above his personal tragedy and decides to take matters in his own hands. He's determined to coach refugee camp kids in cricket, who are otherwise destined to become suicide bombers. While Sanju baba plays the role of an ex-Army officer, Raaj is playing the role of a Cricket Coach in the film. The makers of the series were looking out for somebody who could play the role of a cricket coach. Although the role was earlier offered to another actor it finally went in his purse. The Director Girish Malik auditioned him and casted him to play a Sardar Cricket Coach.
Sharing about his journey, Raaj says, "My journey into acting goes back to my college days. There was a youth festival happening and I wanted to participate in the play. But the selection committee of that particular play told me that they cannot select me because all the roles were taken. I went to the Dean and asked him if I could form a separate team and draft a fresh story to enact. Fortunately, my play was shortlisted for the finals and that is how my entry into acting happened. I got a standing ovation at the festival. That encouraged me to get into acting."
Although he completed his Software engineering course after that and worked with Wipro for a while, he was always attracted towards pursuing acting as his career.
He adds, "I started doing theater in spite of being one of the fastest growing employees of Wipro. I did some 200 odd shows. I then came to Mumbai and started with anchoring. That was my bread and butter at that time, and I started hunting for good roles. I have never been a part of any daily soaps or mythological show. I started with films and I am still doing that."
About his experience with Sanjay Dutt, he says, "Most of my scenes in the movie are with Sanjay Sir. Shooting with him is a great learning experience. He had helped me a lot while the shoot of the film was in progress. Since the shoot was happening in Kyrgyzstan the weather does get rough with extreme temperature variations and strong winds leading to body ache. During one of those extreme days, it was Sanjay sir who taught me tips and tricks on how to beat it since he had shot in such weather for LOC Kargil." Sharing about his experience of working with Sakshi Tanwar and Ram Kapoor he said that Both of them are warm people, especially Sakshi and Ram is like an elder brother.
"He is prankster on the set, and he keeps everybody entertained. When you are working on the set with him you can be sure of the fact that your work will be fun filled. He is always ready with a new kind of a prank every day and all of us would await in anticipation as to what new prank will he unfold today. On the other hand, Sakshi Tanwar is a very calm and quite person. She would sit in the corner with a book or keep doing something or the other. She is very good with her emotions. She is one of the best actresses I have worked so far," adds Raaj.
According to Raaj, OTT can replace television in India not Cinema. "Cinema is a different experience in itself. It's totally encapsulating, where you dedicate 3 hours of your life and go and sit and watch and enjoy the movie and you are completely lost in the story. Television I feel will be replaced by OTT because the content that has come up on OTT is very interesting, very intriguing and attractive. Gone are the days of people watching one whole episode of 'Rasode mein kaun tha'," concludes Raaj.