Rajkummar Rao Reveals Friends Didn’t Believe Dinner Party With Joseph Gordon-Levitt: ‘He Wanted To Know…’ | Exclusive – News18

Last Updated:December 09, 2024, 13:19 IST

Rajkummar Rao spills the beans on his conversation with Joseph Gordon-Levitt at his dinner party and how he’s a purist at heart.

In October this year, Joseph Gordon-Levitt visited India to attend IFP season 14 in Mumbai where he was one of the key speakers. In a conversation with Rajkummar Rao onstage, the duo discussed cinema. Videos from the event featuring Joseph and Rajkummar spontaneously grooving to Aayi Nayi from Stree 2 went viral in no time. After the event, Rajkummar and his wife, actor Patralekhaa, hosted a dinner party for him at their home, which was also attended by Farah Khan, Soha Ali Khan, Kunal Kemmu and Abhishek Banerjee.

Now, in an exclusive chat with News18 Showsha, Rajkummar recalls spending the evening with the 500 Days Of Summer and Inception actor and spills the beans on their conversations. “He’s great! He’s just like us. He’s a very sweet guy and a purist at heart. When he came home and we called a few of our friends, they didn’t believe it at first. They were like, ‘Oh come on, why would Joseph come to your home?’” he tells us with a laugh.

Later, Rajkummar and Patralekhaa shared pictures from their get-together on Instagram that grabbed a lot of attention. He further continues, “Then we sat down, had a chill time, spoke about cinema. He talked about his journey and wanted to know about our culture and cinema. It was a great experience.” The Vicky Aur Vidya Ka Who Wala Video and Mr & Mrs Mahi actor further shares that he had a profound discussion with Joseph about seeking fulfilment as an actor.

Talking about it, he says, “I asked him as well what’s more important for him. Is it big box office success, critical praise or personal fulfilment and joy as an artist? I ask his question to a lot of people because I want to find the right balance. He told me that there are two things that are very important for him.” Interestingly, Rajkummar tasted both commercial and critical triumphs with Stree 2 and Srikanth this year.

“Joseph said that the first thing is self-contentment. One needs to ask yourself, am I enjoying this journey? When I was thinking about what he said later, I realised that the process is extremely significant for me. I need to enjoy the process. And when it comes to box office success, it means that many people showed love to your film. Numbers are separate but this implies that those many eyeballs went to watch your film. The bottom line is that I want to be happy as an artist and have people love what I do,” remarks Rajkummar.

So, how would he want to encapsulate 2024? “I hope every year turns out to be like 2024. I want to continue doing what I did. I want to keep exploring challenging parts where I can push myself. But I also want to keep doing comedies because that’s where the fun element is. To be able to make people laugh isn’t easy. But to see them laugh in theatres after watching my comic performances brings me a lot of excitement,” he says.