Veteran actor Anil Rastogi, 78, says working on multiple projects keeps him going. “Being at work makes me feel young and cheerful as well as it gives me a lot of energy to move ahead. I don’t want boredom to overwhelm me,” says the Ishaqzaade actor.
During the on-going pandemic phase, he was seen in a number of OTT series including Ashram, A Suitable Boy, Love J Action and more recently in Grahan.
The actor, who retired as a scientist, says length of roles does not matter to him but its importance does.
“The role should always be impactful and visible. In film Thappad I had just two scenes and no dialogue, but I did go with the faith of director Anubhav Sinha who trusted me to make that small role impactful. All thanks to my wife, family and well-wishers that I am able to justify the trust people show in me and that has been my driving force.”
The actor is back in shooting mode. “Due to Covid scenario, I was surely scared and never let my guard down during the shoots. After April 15, I did not work for over two months. But now, we need to move on. In the last two weeks, I travelled to Mumbai twice to shoot for Raktanchal-2’ and dubbed for the film Tauba Tera Jalwa where I play a jailor,’ says Rastogi.
Before the surge of Covid cases, he shot for multiple projects. “I completed the film Ittu Si Baat, along with three-season series starring Raj Arjun followed by Sitapur: City of Gangster directed by Mobeen Warsi which was initially a series but will now release as a film. Then there is Virangana directed by Rupendra Verma in which senior actor Nayan Bhatt plays my wife and film Aalingan which will be going to the festivals.”
Besides, he plays slain-criminal Vikas Dubey’s political master in Bikru Kanpur Gangster and politician Shivraj Patil in Nikhil Advani’s series Bombay Dairies.
“Thankfully, I also found time for theatre which has always been my first love. In March, I did three shows of Shubdeep Raha’s play Akhari Vasant with co-actor Chitra Mohan and prior to that I did shows of Tum. Along with all this I have even wrapped a Bhojpuri film,” he shares with a smile.
