‘The makers of Baang unearthed the dormant actor within me’

Popular musician Raghu Dixit is gearing up to explore his acting chops with Baang, which has been planned to be released on August 18. The musician-turned-actor owes his acting debut to the composer of Baang, Ritvik Muralidhar and director Sree Ganesh Parashuram.

“These two have been together since the inception of this project, and they envisioned me in the role and were determined to bring me on board,” says Raghu Dixit, who admits that he never anticipated the turn of events. “Surprisingly, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. They unearthed this dormant actor within me. Of course, I had my apprehensions initially, but I embraced the process. Still, there’s that nagging concern: What will be the people’s reactions? Do I really need this?”

Discussing his role, Raghu Dixit elaborates, “I portray Leona’s (Shanvi Srivatsav) father, a character intricately tied to the underworld. People call my gangster persona as ‘Daddy’, and I have shades of a modern-day Robin Hood.” He goes on to explain his involvement in various action-packed scenes, “Gunfights, hand-to-hand combat, sword fights – I’m part of it all. The diversity of the action was truly captivating. For specific scenes, I underwent intensive training in fight choreography designed by Chethan. It was tough when all of it was captured amidst the rain. However, I found immense enjoyment and a desire for the experience to last longer.”

Explaining more about his process of acting, Raghu Dixit shares, “The true essence lies in stepping into the shoes of someone entirely different from yourself, delving into their psyche. This resonates with my earlier training in Bharatanatyam dance. However, embodying a character’s persona on a deeper level was an enjoyable challenge. I even found myself relishing the quirks, like wearing a leather jacket and smoking a cigar, despite being a non-smoker.”

Now that he has ventured into acting, Raghu Dixit reveals that he is yet to sign his next, “No concrete offers have come my way as of now. I believe that this state will change after Baang releases. It’s only then that we can assess the situation. I’m open to both possibilities – if this leads to bigger ventures, I’d be delighted, but if not, I won’t have any regrets.”