Rajesh Tailang has built a reputation for performances that feel lived-in rather than performed, the kind that arrive quietly and then linger. Whether as the idealistic lawyer in Mirzapur or as a father navigating the pressures of middle-class life in Zee5's Bakaiti, he brings an understated authority that makes even familiar characters feel newly observed. In Bakaiti, which returns for Season 2 on September 25, Tailang steps into a lighter register, playing a lawyer again but this time with a comic rhythm that gives the family drama its easy charm.
Speaking to The Hindu, Tailang said the appeal of Bakaiti lay in its everyday realism. "I liked the relatable storyline and the slice-of-life touch. I had majorly done a lot of dramatic and intense work before, so I wanted to explore this new side," he said. That shift matters in a career often associated with gravity and emotional intensity. In Bakaiti, the humour does not come from broad punchlines or exaggerated antics. Instead, it emerges from domestic pressures, awkward exchanges and the absurdities that can surface in an ordinary household trying to make ends meet in Ghaziabad.
Tailang's performance works because he is not trying to dominate the comedy. He is often reacting to it, which gives the series a natural rhythm. He acknowledged that comedy is harder than it looks. "It is tough to cheat in comedy. You can know instantly know if it's working or not," he said, adding that he had done comedy during his theatre days. For him, the distinction between comic and dramatic acting lies in what the actor must hold onto. "While doing comedy, the results are more important than the process. But process becomes important during a serious role to know how you reached to that stage of crying. What is important in both is adaptability."
That adaptability extends to his long-running collaborations with Sheeba Chadha, who plays his wife in Bakaiti. The two have repeatedly appeared as a couple in projects including Mirzapur and Bandish Bandits, and have also shared screen space in films such as Pagglait and Khuda Haafiz. Tailang said the familiarity creates comfort, but also a creative challenge. "How do you find a new dynamic between each other every time? A husband and wife will have a different interpersonal relationship each time," he said. In Bakaiti, he noted, the relationship feels more physically intimate than in some of their earlier collaborations. "In Mirzapur and Bandish Bandits, our characters don't touch each other as much as they do in Bakaiti. That intimacy of a relationship comes across more here. That's how we try to bring a different side to the relationship."
The actor has also become known for playing fathers who resist easy categorisation. In Mukkabaaz, he played an argumentative father; in Delhi Crime, a more sensitive one. Across these roles, he has developed a style that gives even secondary characters a central emotional life. Tailang said he is wary of being reduced to a function within the story. "If someone comes up to me to describe a character as a father, I get a bit disappointed as an actor. Being a father is just a relationship to the protagonist. That's not the character," he said. Instead, he prefers to think of every role as the hero of its own life. "Because every person is the hero of their life. That helps me in thinking about their struggles which makes it feel more rounded. I also like to show their weakness along with the strengths, which adds a layer of humanity to them."
That philosophy helps explain why Tailang's performances often feel effortless even when they are carefully calibrated. He finds nuance in the mundane, and that sensibility appears to extend beyond acting into his poetry as well. The source material notes that he writes poetry, a detail that seems fitting for an actor who speaks of characters as complete human beings rather than narrative devices. In Bakaiti, that sensibility gives the series a grounded warmth; in his broader body of work, it has become part of what makes him one of the more quietly distinctive presences on screen.
As Bakaiti prepares for its second season, Tailang's comments suggest an actor still interested in stretching himself rather than settling into a familiar type. For him, the challenge is not simply to play a father, a husband or a lawyer, but to keep finding the private contradictions inside those labels. That, more than anything, may be the source of the ease audiences see on screen.