Rajpal Yadav was arrested and sent to judicial custody

Last December, Rajpal Yadav was arrested and sent to judicial custody by the Delhi High Court for hiding facts about a Rs 5 crore recovery suit filed against him and his wife by a Delhi-based entrepreneur. In 2010, the actor had taken loan from M.G. Aggarwal for his directional debut, Ata Pata Lapatta.

The judge also issued a notice to his two lawyers for submitting affidavits with forged signatures of the actor and wife Radha.

Rajpal has put this unsavoury chapter behind him by adding an extra 'a' to his name for good luck. It seems to be working as his much delayed Hollywood project is set to release. "Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain is a film seen through my eyes. I play a labourer," he informs.

Touch on his imprisonment in Tihar jail, and he says lightly, "Jo ho gaya so ho gaya. Some of the inmates were happy to meet me. I told them not to wish for another meeting so much that I'd have to come back." He admits that he has still to pay off the Rs 5 crore loan to Aggarwal. "I'm doing it, bit by bit, and soon he will get his money back," he promises, adding that he was not put behind bars for non-repayment of loan but because his lawyers submitted an affidavit with forged signatures. "After I was set free, I sacked those lawyers and appointed new ones," he explained.

We saw him in every alternative film eight years ago. Now he's hardly seen on screen. Why? "Hindi cinema has changed in the last decade," sighs the actor. "But I'm reading lots of scripts and have signed a few films. Meanwhile, I have been busy with regional cinema. I've done movies in at least 10 languages in the last year-and-a-half. Thanks to these films and Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain, I haven't sat at home for a single day in 2014."

Needless to say that having burnt his hands with Ata Pata Lapatta, Rajpal is in no mood to produce films again in the near future, but quickly adds, "The film was a learning experience but like Sean Connery as James Bond said, 'I never say never again'."