Actor-dancer Raghav Juyal, who played the role of Fani in the recently released film Kill, says that the response to it has been phenomenal. “I am enjoying this time a lot. It feels like I am seeing a career shift right now. The whole industry has called me to appreciate it (Kill). It feels good that our hard work is getting its reward. Producers and directors abroad have also been calling me,” Juyal says.
The actor, who featured in Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan previously, says that the action-drama could be a life-changing film in his acting career. “This film opened the doors for me. I feel this is my breakout. It has been a crazy ride since the film released. Kalki jaisi ₹600-700 crore ke budget wali film jisme itne bade stars the, woh humaare saath thi, and we came with a small budget, but were able to bring people to the theatres only because of word of mouth. Earlier I had only heard about the impact of word of mouth, but now I have experienced it,” emphasises the 33-year-old.
Adding that the audiences are king, Juyal notes, “People don’t want to see flashy cinema where the hero is romanticising his girl, saving her and winning hearts. The audience expects raw content, story and real drama, not a dreamy world.”
Before becoming an actor, Juyal was a TV host for shows such as Dil Hai Hindustani and Dance Plus. Speaking about waiting for the right time to take the plunge into acting, Juyal tells us, “The waiting period was also because I didn’t want to be overexposed. Agar log mujhe TV par ya kahin aur roz dekhenge toh theatres par mujhe dekhne ke liye paise kyun kharchenge. If you are entering the industry as an blank paper then its better, but if you have to break a previous stereotype, it takes a lot of time. You have to do something excellent and path breaking to surprise the audience and move on from the stereotype. Shocker zaroori hain, warna kuch mediocre sa karoge toh aaoge aur jaaoge.”
Ask Juyal, who has also been a choreographer in reality shows and has starred in dance-centric films like Any Body Can Dance – ABCD (2013), ABCD 2 (2015), and Street Dancer 3D (2020), if dancing will take a backseat now, he says, “Nothing takes a backseat for me. If I am getting acting oriented roles right now, then of course I will take them up. Every field is creative and requires performance and art. I will dance in films now, why does it have to be a thing? I even have a huge dance number in my next film.”
Talking about the much talked about action scenes in Kill, Juyal reveals, “Humne bahut chotte khaayi hain. We used to realise about the bruises while taking a shower. We have given nine months to train for the action scenes, it was an amazing and fun experience. Action bhi ek mukka maarne wala nahi tha, we had the raw action with super VFX.”
Another feat that the film achieved was that it will soon be adapted into a Hollywood film by the makers of John Wick. “When I got to know about the International distribution of the film, even that was a huge achievement for me. On top of that, a Hollywood remake by such a big director, it is crazy. This is an unexplainable feeling. It’s not everyday that this happened with a Bollywood movie,” expresses Juyal.