Sussex actor lifts lid on leading Bollywood role as coming-of-age sports drama hits cinemas

Saaj Raja, who was born and raised in Crawley, plays the lead in the Indo-British coming-of-age sports drama A Game of Two Halves, which hit selected cinemas in the UK, India and North America today (February 23).

Saaj, 32, who also appeared in Marvel’s Eternals in 2021 and Netflix’s Indian Hindi-language remake of The Girl on the Train in 2020, plays Sanjay, a young British South Asian student who unexpectedly ends up coaching street kids football in Hyderabad, India.

Saaj said: “It’s really a fish-out-of-water story. The story really follows Sanjay’s journey about how he has to discover himself along the way.

“He has no idea about the journey of self-discovery that he’s about to embark on as a result of it, but he finds that he learns a lot from the kids out there.”

The film - written by Shirley Day and Sheila Nortey, and directed by Khayam Khan - tackles the theme of racial dissonance and identity crisis - and Saaj admitted it was these subjects that drew him to the project.

He said: “I relate a lot to Sanjay’s journey as a first generation British-born Indian. There’s a lot of different facets of my identity, so I definitely resonate with the journey the character goes on.

“I drew a lot from my own experiences. I didn’t go to India for the first time in my life until I was 18, which is a similar age to Sanjay’s character in the film. There’s a lot of parallels to be drawn there.

“There’s a term that’s used for Indians of my background who are born in the UK. We’re called NRIs - which is ‘Non-resident Indians’.

“It’s almost like you’re not really Indian if you go there, and here when you’re growing up in school you question how British you are when you’re brought up with Indian values.

“There’s a big Indian community in Crawley. I was heavily influenced by my Indian upbringing and my community, but I like to see my life as a celebration of a fusion of those cultures. I like to say I live the best of what those cultures have to offer.”

Filming took place four years ago at sites at home and abroad.

The film has a distinctly Sussex flavour to it. The production spent two weeks filming at Lingfield College, while a dance scene choreographed by Saaj includes two dancers from Sussex - Matt Aspinall from Haywards Heath and Joshua Jooste from Cuckfield.

But Saaj revealed it was his time spent in India that really left a mark on him.

He said: “It was incredible. We filmed in a place called Ramoji Film City, which I think is the world’s largest film studio. I think it’s about 1,666 acres.

“It’s one of the hubs for the Bollywood and South Asian film industries, and the hotel that I stayed at was in the studio complex. It was almost like living in SimCity because they have a custom built airport, a school, towns, all these sets which are built, and it was incredible.

“I got to work with some amazing local talent. There were a lot of local children I got to work with in Hyderabad, and I also got to work with some accomplished Bollywood actors too.

“Pawan Chopra, Swaroopa Ghosh, and Harish Khanna are really accomplished Bollywood actors, so I got to learn a lot from these actors as it was my first feature film. It’s my first real film project, apart from a couple of student films I’ve done before, so I was really fresh and new to it.”

Although Saaj has previously appeared in feature films, A Game of Two Halves marks the first time the Sussex actor has taken a leading role in a picture.

The 32-year-old explained the key differences between work as a leading man and a supporting artist.

He said: “I had nowhere to hide! It’s a different kind of responsibility, but I’m grateful that I got to work with a director and a production team that were really supportive of me.

“Khayam Khan, who is the director, gave me the opportunity to act in this film. He put a lot of faith in me, so I’m really grateful for that.

“If you look at something you did four or five years ago, in hindsight, you always think you could have done something differently. But that’s who I was at the time, and I got such a brilliant experience that I’m grateful for.

“I’m still pinching myself to be honest. People don’t get these kinds of opportunities until they’ve had to graft for a while.

“I’m still grafting and I’m still working hard, but I’m also allowing myself to take time and reflect on how wonderful an opportunity it has been. I’m excited to see what it leads to because I just want to tell great stories.”

So, what’s next for Saaj?

“I’m already involved in conversations regarding future projects. Even with Khayam, he’s looking at doing Death of a Salesman but based in Mumbai.

“I’m also finding myself now having been in the industry for five years, I’m now starting to get into contention for more prominent roles in film, TV and stage.

“It’s great to have my name in the hat for these opportunities. I’m just grateful to be in the mix.

“It’s been a really interesting few years. I got to work on a Marvel job, which I worked on while I was shooting A Game of Two Halves.

“One day I went from an independent film set to a Marvel set, so it's been amazing to experience both ends of the spectrum.”

A Game of Two Halves is out now.