Actor Raaj Singh Arora essays the role of a cricket coach in the movie 'Torbaaz' starring Sanjay Dutt & Nargis Fakhri, directed by Girish Malik. The film has a beautiful portrayal of how the game of cricket changes the lives of children that were earlier targeted for being suicide bombers by anti-social elements.
Raaj plays the character that was earlier to be essayed by Harbhajan Singh. Commenting on the occasion Raaj said "Harbhajan Singh was to be the cricket coach in the film. I was to portray some other character. One day the production team was notified by Harbhajan's team that he was not free on the shooting dates. Since the entire shoot had already been scheduled in a foreign country, rescheduling would have been a major cost. Also, auditioning a newer actor would also mean a lot of paperwork for Visa & other formalities. Somebody from the production team suggested to Girish sir that I am a Sikh originally and maybe they can do my screen test for the character. I was being called and told about the character and given 10 days to prepare the look of a Sikh coach who spoke in a North Bharatiya accent. The brief given to me was to be like Bhajji Paa Ji, which I accepted. Inside of me - I was overjoyed as I am a big fan of the Turbanator as well."
Raaj further states "After 10 days, I was evaluated in a screen test and asked to portray the role of the coach. The entire team loved Harbhajan sir so much so that they asked me to learn to bat and bowl like him. Small nuances of spin-bowling were taught to me by an Australian coach and we practiced for as much as six hours daily. I have played cricket in my childhood days like anyone else but never knew that one day I would get to portray the role of a cricket coach on screen. I am from a Sikh family and everyone in my family keeps long hair (kesh). I was happy to go back to my roots for the role. I am keeping my fingers crossed for the premiere and hope that people love the message the film delivers."
Raaj has been a part of movies like ‘SAHASAM’ in Telugu; ‘W’ & 'The Great Indian Escape' in Hindi and is known for his portrayal of Sakshi Tanwar's love interest in 'Karle Tu Bhi Mohabbat’ web series. He also essayed the antagonist in channel V's show 'Mastaangi'.
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