Rajkummar Rao has a candid retort when you tell him he is successful enough now to be called a star.

"You can call me whatever, but call me Raj. I think Raj is a nice name," says the actor, in a conversation with IANS.

The actor, who won the National Award in 2014 for his title role in Shahid, has given memorable roles in numerous films in his 11-year-old career -- notably, Aligarh, Bareilly Ki Barfi, CityLights, Omerta, Newton and Trapped. Despite fame and awards, he has always come across as grounded. How does he manage to stay that way?

"God has not given me wings to fly so there is no point flying! I am doing this for myself because I saw this dream when I was a kid who wants to act. I wanted to be an actor and acting gives me the most amount of happiness and I am doing this for my sanity and for my own happiness. It reaches out to so many people and you get so much love from them," he replied.

"I don't see any reason for me to not be real. I am an actor by profession but before that I am just a normal guy," he added.

Over his decade-long journey in Hindi cinema, Rajkummar has featured in many slice-of-life, realistic and drama films. One genre missing from his filmography is an out-and-out commercial masala entertainer, something Bollywood is famous for.

"Never say never. I haven't really given a thought to it honestly and not like I have gotten such films but if I get a script like that, which has some base story attached to it, then I would love to a try. Why not?" he said.

(Durga Chakravarty can be contacted at durga.c@ians.in)