Raakh actor Ramandeep Yadav: I wanted Rajjo's eyes to make people uncomfortable

Actor Ramandeep Yadav opened up about his year-long preparation for Raakh, studying criminal psychology, avoiding stereotypes, and overcoming typecasting.

In Short

• He said family support sustained him through years of uncertainty
• He studied criminal psychology to understand mindset, not mimic real offenders
• Haunting eyes in photographs helped shape Rajjo's unsettling screen presence

Actor Ramandeep Yadav has been earning praise for his performance in Raakh. In an exclusive conversation with India Today, the actor opened up about the extensive preparation that went into playing Rajjo, why he chose to study criminal psychology instead of the real-life criminals who inspired the story, the year-long process of building the character, and his thoughts on being typecast after portraying intense roles.

'I didn't give up when I wanted to quit'

Looking back on his journey and the response to the show, Ramandeep admitted there was a phase when giving up felt like the easier option.

"It feels good to see the response, especially because I didn't give up at a time when I genuinely felt like giving up. I believe you can't really be inspired by someone else's journey. You can get motivated by it, but real inspiration comes from your own journey, and that stays with you," he said.

He credited his family for standing by him through difficult years, revealing that they never asked him to give up acting despite the uncertainty.

"You can travel the world, but at the end of the day, you come back to your family. They're the people I count on, and they count on me. I'm grateful they always supported me."

Why he avoided studying the real-life criminals

Despite Raakh being inspired by true crime, Ramandeep consciously stayed away from closely mimicking the real people behind the story.

"I didn't start by researching them because this wasn't a biopic," he explained. "The script already had so much material. I don't think they are people whose lives should be recreated through their behaviour or mannerisms."

Instead, he immersed himself in criminal psychology, studying documentaries and shows about serial killers to understand the mindset rather than imitate specific individuals.

One disturbing detail stayed with him: a serial killer who believed his victims shouldn't feel pain during their deaths.

"I watched several shows and documentaries on serial killers. There was one character—I don't remember the show's name—who kills women. He said something that stayed with me. He believed women were fragile, and that if they felt pain while he killed them, then he wasn't good at what he did. He wanted them to die without feeling pain. That disturbing sense of fragility stayed with me, and I wanted Rajjo to have that quality."

He added, "I wanted his transition between his two personalities to feel gradual. He shouldn't suddenly look like a monster. Even though he speaks Haryanvi, I never wanted the language to become a stereotype or a barrier. The audience shouldn't think, 'He's aggressive because he's Haryanvi.' I wanted the performance to go beyond that."

"I honestly don't remember the name of that show. I had watched it on another platform. Around the same time, I also watched The Ripper and The Girl in the Window. I had already started exploring criminal psychology while I was auditioning. It wasn't something I began only after getting the role."

The haunting eyes that shaped Rajjo

While he avoided copying the real men, Ramandeep admitted that one aspect deeply influenced his performance.

"When I saw their photographs, what fascinated me most were their eyes. They were haunting. I wanted Rajjo's eyes to create that same feeling—that when he stands in front of someone, they instinctively know something isn't right."

Building Rajjo's life beyond the script

Ramandeep revealed that much of his preparation involved creating details that never even appear on screen. Working with acting coaches Nitin Goyal and Shashi, he developed Rajjo's complete emotional history—from his childhood to the trauma that shaped him.

"We created an entire backstory that isn't in the show, but I needed it to believe in the character."

The team imagined Rajjo growing up in a deeply patriarchal environment in Haryana, explored his friendship with Pyare Mohan, and even created imaginary childhood memories to ground the performance.

Music, folk songs and a digital mood board

Ramandeep created dedicated playlists featuring old Haryanvi folk music to internalise the dialect and emotional rhythm of the character.

"Today's Haryanvi songs are very refined. I wanted rawness, something that belonged to that period."

His theatre background also led him to build a detailed digital mood board.

The board included photographs of actors Vinod Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan—because Rajjo dreams of becoming an actor—as well as images of cockroaches, which became the character's "animal instinct" during workshops.

"For me, nothing survives like a cockroach. Survival became Rajjo's instinct."

He even included medical and surgical photographs to understand the trauma his character may have experienced before the events of the show.

Nearly a year devoted to one character

The actor estimates that Raakh occupied nearly a year of his life. Around three months were spent in workshops, rehearsals and personal research before filming began, followed by another three months of shooting. Even months later, he had to revisit Rajjo's emotional state during dubbing.

"During dubbing, you have to recreate the same emotions you felt months earlier. That's difficult."

Ramandeep said he was thankful that very little dubbing was required because most scenes retained their sync sound.

"What you genuinely feel on set is difficult to recreate months later."

For Ramandeep, Raakh became far more than a career milestone. It was a test of patience, persistence and process—one that demanded months of psychological preparation, emotional immersion and unwavering faith long before audiences finally met Rajjo on screen.

'It's an actor's job to break the box'

Having played such a dark and intense character, Ramandeep isn't worried about being stereotyped. Instead, he sees typecasting as a challenge every actor must overcome.

"I haven't really been worried about being typecast. After CAT, I got to play a fun character called Saba, which was very different. I know that even if I do similar roles, I have confidence in my craft. Every time I play a character from the same space, I want to bring freshness and add a new layer because every character is different."

The actor said he draws inspiration from performers like Irrfan Khan, Manoj Bajpayee and Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who have often played characters in similar spaces but managed to make each performance feel distinct.

"When I look at actors like Irrfan sir, Manoj Bajpayee sir or Nawaz sir, they've all played characters from similar spaces multiple times, but there's always something fresh in every performance. That's the kind of actor I want to become."

He acknowledged that the industry often places actors into categories but believes it's the performer's responsibility to constantly challenge those perceptions.

"People do typecast you because they put you in boxes. But after every project, it's your job to break that box. Maybe people thought after CAT that I could only do one kind of role, and then I broke that perception. If they put me in another box after this, I'll break that one too."

'A character should matter to the story'

Ramandeep also made it clear that he isn't chasing screen time but meaningful roles.

"I'm always open to playing roles like this, but only if the character is important to the story. If you can remove the character and nothing changes, then I'm not interested. I want to play characters that leave an impact and have something meaningful to contribute."

The actor added that the love he's receiving from audiences also comes with responsibility.

"Like they say in Spider-Man, 'With great power comes great responsibility.' For me, that means I have to keep delivering good work."

Raakh is streaming on Prime Video.

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