EXCLUSIVE: Himanshu Malhotra on playing Rasool Khan in Kesari Veer, “To get a role like this is a blessing for an artist” : Bollywood News

In an exclusive interview with Bollywood Hungama, actor Himanshu Malhotra opened up about his upcoming film Kesari Veer, which is set to release in theatres on May 23, 2025. He shared anecdotes from the shoot and spoke about his experience of working with Sooraj Pancholi. Himanshu, a well-known face in both television and films, is recognized for his performances in the TV soap Aapki Antara (2009) and films like Wajah Tum Ho (2016) and Shershaah (2021). In Kesari Veer, he takes on the intense role of the ferocious warrior Rasool Khan.

EXCLUSIVE: Himanshu Malhotra on playing Rasool Khan in Kesari Veer, “To get a role like this is a blessing for an artist”

What kind of preparation did you do to get into the mindset of Rasool Khan? Was there any special training involved—physically or emotionally?
Yes, of course, a character like this — predominantly Rasool Khan — also involves a lot of training, whether it’s physiological, mental, or emotional. Characters like such are pretty far from who you are. This goes back to the 13th and 14th century. We talk about Mughals who invaded India. There were atrocities done by them, a lot of sacrifices by our Indians to make sure that nobody captures our country.

With Rasool, it was entirely different, difficult, complex, and layered. Something like this has not been done before. I’ve never done a period drama prior to this. To get a role like this is a blessing for an artist. The way I look and how I talk, I think it’s very difficult for any director to think I can play an antagonist — someone who is ferocious, lethal, a warrior. I’m glad the director of the feature film saw something in me and decided this part should be offered to me. There was no screen test. He just saw something and realized we could do this together.

A couple of things went into the preparation of Rasool. One was physiological. We had to prepare for it. The training had to be intense because he’s playing a warrior and the commander-in-chief. We underwent calisthenics for almost four to five months. I’d already done calisthenics for a year and a half, so rigorous training had to be done. Prince had included that he wanted Rasool Khan to fight with both hands. I had to become ambidextrous, fight with both swords — left and right — which was very difficult. Fighting with the primary hand, the right hand, is easy. But when fighting with both hands and using swords, both hands become tricky and difficult.

I had to talk to my trainer who was teaching Shaolin Kung Fu, and I had to learn stick fighting and sword fighting. Physiologically, we had to increase our beard. The beard length had to grow for a month. We also tried to put lenses in the eyes to make it more lethal and ferocious, but that was discarded over time. The armor was there. The physical look was designed by the costume designer, the production designer, and the director.

I also created a backstory of Rasool Khan — writing about who Rasool is, how he was born, what happened, who his parents were back in Afghanistan, where they came from.

I created this because he did not have any parents mentioned. So I decided to make Zafar Khan, the brother, everything for Rasool. He is the brother, father figure, mentor, guru, idol — everything. Rasool has a deep love for Zafar bhai, played by Vivek Oberoi sir. He loved him so much, and the love became obsessive. Whatever the brother says, he is going to do it. The brother says, kill for me — he’ll kill. The brother says, die for me — he’ll die. That was the only way.

The film seems to involve intense action and patriotism. Were there any physically or emotionally challenging scenes for you?
We were shooting a pre-climax action sequence with Sooraj. Me and Sooraj were opposite each other, and we had this huge fighting sequence. We were shooting in Karjat for almost seven nights. I remember we started shooting on the 26th of December, last to last year, and kept shooting till the 1st of January — and it was only nights.

Nights become very difficult, especially when you’re doing a huge action sequence in winter. I remember Sooraj was there and I was in armor and everything. It becomes extremely difficult and tedious, and you have to be very careful that you don’t hurt anyone. In action sequences, at the blink of an eye, you can lose concentration, and something can happen that results in injury — to him or to me. He was very careful, I was very careful. That became a very important aspect.

Emotionally also, I remember there was a huge scene where I was speaking a lot of lines, shouting and screaming in front of the whole temple sequence. The whole village was there — around 200–300 people — and I was shouting and screaming. After 2 O’clock, 3 O’clock, when you’re taking the clothes off, the body and the voice start to give out because the body wants to sleep, and you’re just pushing it again and again.

What does Kesari Veer mean to you personally, especially in terms of the values it represents?
In terms of the values I represent, Kesari Veer obviously talks about the legends of Somnath. It talks about Shivji, it talks about God, it talks about our deities, it talks about our love for the universe and God. So, obviously, there is a deep relationship to that. Though I am not an ardent follower of Shiva, what happens is — Shiva, the creator, the destructor, the preserver — the whole universe coincides and collides with him.

But of course, I have strong faith in this unique mystical power of the universe, which guides us, mentors us, nurtures us at times, and also sometimes gives us harsh lessons of life so that we can keep moving forward.

How has playing Rasool Khan changed you as an actor or added to your journey in the industry?
It does add. Actually, what happens is something like Rasool, when you play, first of all, I think it takes time for you to believe in some form when initially something is offered. But, of course, as an artist, you can stretch your boundaries. Then you also have stronger faith in yourself that, you know, whatever is offered, you can do it. Because otherwise, what happens is sometimes you don’t know whether you’ll be able to pull it off, and pull it off well. It’s very good for an artist to keep stretching their boundaries, to keep doing challenging parts, which are away from you, which do not normally look like you, and which normally don’t talk like you. Because Rasool also had to talk in Urdu, Pashto, and Arabic. The language is different. Physiologically, it’s different; emotionally, it’s different because of the kind of environment that we live in and the kind of environment Rasool lived in. He came from a very lethal environment, where blood was always there. And when something like this you’ve grown up with, it’s a different mindset altogether. And to get into the zone of a different mindset, I think it adds a new dimension to us as an artist and as a human being as well. So, that’s something nice.

You’ve portrayed a range of characters in your career. How does Rasool Khan stand apart from your previous roles?
I’m just contemplating if I’ve done too many antagonists. I’ve actually not done too many antagonists. I think this is primarily the first time, which is a strong antagonist. More than the antagonist—like a warrior. This is something I feel I haven’t done prior to this. Everything else, most of the time, I’ve been offered either the protagonist part, or the lover boy, or the romantic boy, or the husband, or this or that.

But Shershaah was very different. Shershaah was army-based, but again, it was more on the positive side, where we were protecting ourselves and defending ourselves against the 1999 Kargil War where Pakistan had intruded on us. But it was more on the protagonist's side, where you are the defender and somebody has barged into your territory and you’re trying to protect it. For that protection, you’ll do anything. But this is like going to the other side, where they want to go towards the temple and Somnath, and they want all that money and wealth to be taken over so that they can capture the whole country.

How was your experience of working under the direction of Prince Dhiman in Kesari Veer? What unique vision or approach did he bring to the film, and how did that influence your portrayal of Rasool Khan?
So with Prince, the good part is, me and Prince were pretty much tuned in to understand how Rasool is going to be and what Rasool will be. Because Rasool was obviously his creation along with the writer he created that there will be a brother of Zafar Khan and he’s going to be handling all the army and everything. And Prince, I know since almost a decade when we shot for Yashraj shoot together. He was assisting at that point of time and now he’s a big director. It’s a big setup, it’s an executive service. We have Vivek Oberoi sir, we have Sooraj Pancholi, Akanksha, me, Kiran Kumar and everyone. I’m very happy and proud of him because, you know, starting from assisting and then from assistant to creating a massive film like this on a big scale that you can see, it also gives us a bit of a glimpse of Baahubali. It is a big mammoth task that he has achieved. So totally proud of him.

And Prince wanted a couple of things. He definitely wanted a beard, he wanted the lenses physiologically, he wanted the armor look, he wanted him to be a warrior completely, so the postures will be erect all the time. This was all Prince’s idea. But psychologically, I think, or emotionally, he had imagined a different part of Rasool Khan. He wanted the Rasool — I remember when we met on the first day, and he wanted Rasool to be very, very aggressive, that even if somebody says something, he’ll just come in front and he’s just going to blabber.

I remember there was a shot where he was discussing all those things and I told him, I said, “Why don’t we do one thing? Why don’t we keep Rasool very still and very silent? Instead of constantly talking and blabbering, it will lose the gravitas of being a warrior. If you want him to be a lethal warrior, let him speak less.”

And then Prince really liked this idea. He said, yeah, I think this really looks interesting to me. And obviously Vivek sir is the flamboyant one and he is the one with the strategies and the plan and the calculative. And this boy, being the younger brother, is the executionist. And then both the characters also look different. Both the brothers look different. Otherwise what happens is everyone starts looking the same.

So in order to give a different dimension to the character and also making sure that it also has its own gravitas, that really helped. And I think that was one thing that really worked very well for Rasool. And maybe that’s why I remember getting a call when the first editorial cut was being screened in a private theater, when the dubbing was not done, the music was not done. Then Suniel Shetty sir and Aditya Pancholi ji had probably come to see the first editorial cut.

I received a call from Prince Dhiman. He said, Suniel sir wants to talk to you. I said yes. And I remember he just took the phone and he said, “Hi, this is Suniel Shetty, and I just called Prince Dhiman to tell him your work is outstanding in the film”. Then Aditya Pancholi ji took the phone and he said, “You have done a great job. Meet me very soon”. I said “thank you”. So I think it’s only because the character dimensions were very clean and a lot of preparation was done physiologically, psychologically. So all the hard work was very much appreciated by Suniel sir.

How was your experience working with Sooraj Pancholi? Did you share any special bonding moments or scenes together?
It was nice, actually. First of all, it is a comeback for him. So the boy has worked really hard, I’m sure. And we are hoping and praying that this really works well for him. With Sooraj, I met him and then we were in the action sequences. We spoke and we talked and then we definitely made sure that we don’t hate each other, that we don’t injure each other. It was also difficult for him because I remember we were shooting in winters and he was not well. He had just gotten viral and he had to pump up the body, take care of himself because he was performing the bare-chest sequence. If you see the trailer, the sequence where he’s bare-chested and everything — he really worked hard for that. It was nice. We had a good time.

How much are you thinking about the box office, and does that make you anxious?
No, and neither does it make me nervous nor does it make me anxious. First of all, I think it’s not in our hands, and this is what I realize. Whether it’s Shershaah —like Shershaah was supposed to release in theaters, but then obviously due to the pandemic and whatever happened all of a sudden, it got released on Amazon, which also worked as a blessing in disguise. So I think as an artist, the most important focus would be that you do your job with utmost honesty and integrity.

I’m happy to dive deep into the creative process and leave the numbers to those who understand them—because I don’t.