Nishant Malkhani: Everyone loves to see authentic Rajasthani family rituals

Mumbai, Jan 6  ‘Rakshabandhan: Rasaal Apne Bhai Ki Dhaal’ actor Nishant Malkhani believes that people love to see authentic Rajasthani family rituals on-screen.

“Everyone loves to see authentic Rajasthani family rituals as well as colours and costumes,” said the actor, who plays Shivraj Umed Pratap Singh in the show.

He feels pretty good as he gets to wear a lot of things that he usually doesn’t wear.

“The thick kada, baliya, a little bit of kajal… all this highlights how the Rajasthanis maintain them. When I reach the set I look like one person, Nishant, but the moment I get ready with my make-up, costume and jewellery, I completely transform into Shivraj Umed Pratap Singh. It just feels surreal,” he said.

He looks up to his character. “Every man should be like Shivraj who has so many different layers and emotions. He is wise, mentally strong, and is weak only for his loved ones. He doesn’t get afraid of any challenges. He takes every situation head on and does not worry about the results because he somehow knows that he would do the right thing,” he said.

As an actor, it is a force of habit to switch off and on. “There is a time playing that character because you are so focused on being that person, sometimes you take back that character with you home. When I started playing Umed Pratap Singh in ‘Rakshabandhan’, which was before the leap, I was playing my own father, that time I had started speaking in a very authentic Rajasthani tone.”

“Suddenly I realised that in my real life, I was speaking in a Marwadi tone. I was giving those one-liners that I say while playing my character.”

He finds the set wonderful and everyone in a wonderful mood.

“We all gel and respect each other a lot. There is no backbiting and all of us have a single aim of how to make the scenes look better. For that, if somebody has to give ideas for other actors to make their characters larger or the scene more interesting, then we always do that. We don’t have selfish actors on the set,” he said.