Hansal Mehta on ‘Omerta’: Because of Rajkummar Rao I could make the film
| Mar 16, 2018, 15:22 IST
Actor Rajkummar Rao is known to portray different kind of roles with ease. Now the actor will play Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh Hansal Mehta's ‘Omerta’. The trailer of the film looks promising. The actor has left everyone stunned with the portrayal of terrorist Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh in the trailer of ‘Omerta’. The film will be based on the life of the British born terrorist Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, known for his involvement in the kidnapping and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in 2002, and his links to various Islamist organisations.
Director Hansal Mehta said, "I wanted to explore evil as a human characteristic and I found an actor (referring to Rajkummar Rao) who was ready to explore the same. To hawk on an evil character. That attracted me to the subject. The challenge of bringing out. He (Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh) is the animal of terrorism."
He further said, "The seed of the idea was given to me by actor Mukul Dev. He has been credited for the story and as a co-writer. He gave me this idea back in 2005 much before Rajkummar Rao had even made his entry in Bollywood. That was the beginning. I found the story very interesting. At that time, nobody thought of making biopics. So, it was an interesting idea that I wanted to develop. It soon became an obsession so much so that when I took a sabbatical in between even then I was constantly thinking about this project. I was developing the script, it was in process, and Shahid happened.”
He also said, "You know the exploration of evil as characteristic with an actor like Rajkummar, he made it so real and palpable like it’s happening just in front of us and immediate. I think that makes the film really special. Rajkummar pushes me and himself to the core. For example, the killing of Daniel Pearl is one of the brutal moments in the film. It just happened. Raj got so much violence within himself. The violence in that sequence is incredible, even without any graphics. It scares you. The sound, look and Raj, it scares you. I was not scared but this was a different person and I was happy he was not the Raj I would want to spend the time in the evening.”
Hansal Mehta revealed how he helped Rajkummar Rao for his character, “By giving him space. The idea is to allow the actor to explore and blossom. The director is a parent. You have to allow the actors to blossom and channelise their energy. If Manoj has a process, my job is to help him with that. Same is the case with Rajkummar. I have to aid that process because work gets better this way. We mix and match our interpretation and bring something new together.”
Director Hansal Mehta said, "I wanted to explore evil as a human characteristic and I found an actor (referring to Rajkummar Rao) who was ready to explore the same. To hawk on an evil character. That attracted me to the subject. The challenge of bringing out. He (Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh) is the animal of terrorism."
He further said, "The seed of the idea was given to me by actor Mukul Dev. He has been credited for the story and as a co-writer. He gave me this idea back in 2005 much before Rajkummar Rao had even made his entry in Bollywood. That was the beginning. I found the story very interesting. At that time, nobody thought of making biopics. So, it was an interesting idea that I wanted to develop. It soon became an obsession so much so that when I took a sabbatical in between even then I was constantly thinking about this project. I was developing the script, it was in process, and Shahid happened.”
He also said, "You know the exploration of evil as characteristic with an actor like Rajkummar, he made it so real and palpable like it’s happening just in front of us and immediate. I think that makes the film really special. Rajkummar pushes me and himself to the core. For example, the killing of Daniel Pearl is one of the brutal moments in the film. It just happened. Raj got so much violence within himself. The violence in that sequence is incredible, even without any graphics. It scares you. The sound, look and Raj, it scares you. I was not scared but this was a different person and I was happy he was not the Raj I would want to spend the time in the evening.”
Hansal Mehta revealed how he helped Rajkummar Rao for his character, “By giving him space. The idea is to allow the actor to explore and blossom. The director is a parent. You have to allow the actors to blossom and channelise their energy. If Manoj has a process, my job is to help him with that. Same is the case with Rajkummar. I have to aid that process because work gets better this way. We mix and match our interpretation and bring something new together.”