Commercial success determines one’s value: Raghuvir Yadav

He scored brownie points in his last screen outing, Gandhi To Hitler, and actor Raghuvir Yadav looked every bit the Adolf Hitler he portrayed. But the preparation that went into it was a gruelling one, he recollects. “All I had was some original black and white footage to refer to. But the role was a lot about the psyche of the dictator and the trauma of his last few days,” he informs.

Raghuvir’s next outing is Nagesh Kukunoor’s Mod. “I play a hardcore Kishore Kumar fan, who’s drawn to the madness in the singer’s voice. He stays in a small hill station with his daughter, played by Ayesha Takia. He’s an unsuccessful man even as he tries his best to teach the soulful music of the singer he idolises,” he says. He sounds a bit embarrassed when he’s quizzed about lending voice to two numbers in the film. In fact, earlier he’s sung in Peepli (Live), Delhi 6, Billu, to name a few. “Music has been my passion for ages. In fact, it helped me portray and get into the soul of the characters I’ve played,” confesses Raghuvir. So, would he want to take up music full time? “I don’t think so — music lacks soul these days, such is the dependence on technology.

Moreover, to me, it’s a matter of the heart,” he states.

Having played some cult characters like Chacha Chaudhury and Mungerilal and more than 25 years in the film industry, Raghuvir still works for contentment. “I need to be satisfied — that’s my only criteria. Whenever I see my work, on hindsight, I feel I could have bettered my performance,” he says. About an industry that boasts of accommodating everyone, Raghuvir opines, “There’s a lot of work but people are valued only according to their commercial success. While we are upping technology in films, the quality seems to be going downhill. And awards spoil intentions — I don’t work for that,” he ends.