Before 'Secret Superstar' I was like a beggar: Raj Arjun

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Mumbai: Character artiste Raj Arjun says the constant struggle in the initial days of his acting career was to make sure that filmmakers and audiences recognise him.

Raj, who has worked in films like Raees and Rowdy Rathore, was recently seen in Aamir Khan's Secret Superstar.

In an interview to PTI, he says, "I can say it was a deliberate move (to be part of big films) to get footage. (But the fact is) I was not in a situation to choose. Before 'Secret Superstar' I was like a beggar. I was just called for a job, I was doing it and going home.

"Till Secret Superstar happened, it was just a fight within myself to prove my existence as an actor, to earn some money and all. In that process whatever I was offered I was doing it."

Raj considers Secret Superstar and Shabri as his best works till date.

"... I want to do something that hits me inside. And Secret Superstar is the only film that touched me.

"'Shabri' was one of the good works and 'Secret Superstar' is the best work. I am happy to be part of all the films that I did but I couldn't perform much in them. I was under pressure, be it from myself or story or content was not helping me out," the actor says.

For Raj, the main criteria to do a film is that it should touch his heart.

"(Now) I want to do films where I can say something through my work, irrespective of whether it is with a big actor or not. I am not tempted to be seen all the time.

"I want to work with good people, where I can get a platform to say something. I would not do a film where I don't add on anything."

In Advait Chandan-directed Secret Superstar, Raj played the role of Zaira Wasim's character's father.

"For this film it was an immediate yes when I got an offer from Aamir Khan's production house. I was looking for good work and this (film) came in, I think I was destined to do it," he says.

At the moment, Raj has no films in hand, but the actor is not worried as for him only quality matters.

"I feel there is a responsibility that I need to do good work. I hope good work comes to me, there are very few offers that are good in nature," he says.