Jay Thakkar talks about his role in Bhool Chuk Maaf, recalls ‘secure actor’ Rajkummar Rao’s sweet gesture towards him | Bollywood-OxBig News Network

In an exclusive conversation with Hindustan Times, Jay opened up about bagging the role, his long-standing bond with Rajkummar Rao, and a heartfelt behind-the-scenes moment on set.

Jay Thakkar, who has been a part of the entertainment industry for two decades, opened up about how he landed his role in Bhool Chuk Maaf. Having worked in over 500 ad films and 30–40 television shows since 2004, Jay said his years of experience helped him build strong connections with casting directors—many of whom had seen him grow up on sets. One such director, who had started his own casting company, remembered Jay from his childhood days and called him in to audition for Gullak at the TVF office.

He added, “During Gullak, he auditioned me for Bhool Chuk Maaf. I made their audition video on the set of the series. Surprisingly, my series UP65 had just been released, and it also had a Banarasi story. And sir wanted someone who had good control over the Banarasi dialect because he doesn’t like faking things, and that looks very wrong also. Since I had good control over North Indian languages, and after two weeks of my audition, I got this call that a director wants to do a meeting with you at Maddock Films.”

Jay Thakkar on his not so secondary role in film

Having previously done cameos in Ram Setu and Dream Girl, Jay is excited about playing a more central role this time and added, “But in this film, I am playing a very important role. It’s a role that gives direction to the film. It’s not a secondary character, it’s giving direction to Rajkummar’s character in the film. Above that, it is a fun character, and they have shown the character’s love track too. I am not doing this role just because it’s a comic or quirky character, but it has sadness, surprises and great jokes in the Banarasi dialect. Karan sir is a gem of a soul, and he told me that he had watched and liked my character in UP65, so it was like god was working for me behind my back, and I had no idea.”

This is not the first time that Jay is sharing screen with Rajkummar Rao. He fondly remembered shooting a short film titled Uss Din with Rajkummar Rao in 2007, “I was seven years old. In that, Rajkummar bhaiya was playing the role of my father. Since then, we have had a good bonding. Back then, he was Rajkummar Yadav, and back then, we both were struggling. He was doing a lot of short films. He had watched my TV shows and ads. Cut to now, I am playing his one of the most closest acquaintances. I am not just a friend of his character in Bhool Chuk Maaf. When I was young, my mother used to come to the sets for the shoot, so we had a great bond. We shot the film at night. The environment while shooting was very serious because the film was a very serious story. So in between this serious environment, when we were about to start the shoot or wrapped the shoot, I and Rajkummar used to play Mario game and have a lot of chats. That was my memory with him.”

He added, “But now, when we were shooting for Bhool Chuk Maaf, at that time Gullak was released. I went to Mumbai for screening, and when I came back to the set, he was very keen ‘Oh wow, you are starring in Gullak’. My mother also came on set to meet him. He congratulated me and my family on Gullak. He was very jolly. He has gained a lot of stardom, but he is a very secure actor. He likes the other person to improvise and play more. He is a very sweet person, he likes to appreciate other people’s art. Like, Gullak was not his art. It was a family-type mahool on the set.”

How Rajkummar Rao made Jay Thakkar feel included

Recalling his favourite BTS moment, Jay said, “When we had our dance shoot. I was initially absent from the song. So Rajkummar and Karan sir were both so sweet as they saw me enjoying the song and the steps, they decided to have me in the song as well. The choreographer was initially hesitant because I hadn’t rehearsed. But, eventually, the choreographer agreed and said all the other dancers would do this particular step, and I would be on the branch of the tree doing some other step. So there’s this part in the song where people are dancing, and I’m just making up my own random dance moves on a tree. And when it came out, everybody was like, amazed and thought it was the best decision.”

About Bhool Chuk Maaf

Helmed by Karan Sharma and produced by Dinesh Vijan under Maddock Films, Bhool Chuk Maaf revolves around Ranjan, a hopeless romantic who secures a government job to marry his love, Titli. But just before their wedding, fate intervenes, and he finds himself trapped in a time loop. The film is scheduled to release in theatres on May 9.