India, April 15 -- I still remember a time when watching Rajkummar Rao in action felt like enjoying a top athlete in their prime. He is still enjoyable, mind you, but that fresh spark is gone. So what happened? Did he, as they say, commercialise?

First, let's look at the best movies featuring Rao. They allowed him to be an irreplaceable part of those projects. I am talking about his collaborations with Hansal Mehta such as Shahid, Omerta, and Aligarh, his performance in Vikramaditya Motwane's Trapped, and even the highly entertaining Stree (only the first one)... they all had elements of quality acting and sharp scripts. More importantly, Rao did not overshadow the scripts. The script was worthy of his acting talent.

The familiarity pro...