‘FILM-MAKERS HAVE FORGOTTEN THE REAL INDIA’

‘The real India lives in the villages where everyone is trying to improve the other.’

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Raghubir Yadav is a phenomenal actor, who embraces every role with the wide-eyed excitement of a child.

That’s the way he lives his life too.

At an age when his contemporaries are content to enjoy a quiet retired life, he is immersing himself in roles that appeal to his sensibilities, finding innovative ways of making music and thinking of new ways in which he can improve as an actor.

Nationally and internationally acclaimed for his performance in the titular role of his 1985 debut film, Massey Sahib, Mr Yadav is now accumulating raves for playing Pradhanji in Amazon Prime Video’s Panchayat.

On your birthday this year, you made a lauki saxophone which you named Low-key. That’s one innovative idea.

(Laughs) I have a small workshop where I keep making things, aise hi, for timepass.

I’ve made musical instruments from gajar (carrot) and muli (radish) earlier. On my birthday, we brought home a lauki (bottle gourd) and

there was a lot of discussion around it. Back in my village, I had seen people making musical instruments from dried laukis, so I decided to see if I could make music with this one even though it was fresh and tender.

Some Punjabi friends had come home. I brought out my Low-key at midnight and started playing it for them.

They loved it and called the producer and director of Panchayat who came over at around 1.30 am and the music continued...