From starring in critically acclaimed movies like Trapped and Newton to doing commercial films like Kai Po Che and Bareilly Ki Barfi, Rajkummar Rao has time and again pushed boundaries and has evolved in terms of his career. And he has done it yet again in Hansal Mehta’s Omerta.
The trailer of the film, which will follow the life of the British born terrorist Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, was launched on Wednesday. For the unversed, Omar was involved in the kidnapping and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in 2002, and his links to various Islamist organisations. Omerta brings to light how educated youth is mislead and misguided to become a terrorist in the name of Jihaad and we must say, Rajkummar has left us stunned with his dedication and transformation for his character.
Talking to Indian Express, Rajkummar revealed how Omerta was more challenging than Trapped. Rajkummar said, "I think it (Omerta) was even more difficult than Trapped. That film was physically taxing but this one mentally shook me up. I was exploring the world which I had no idea about. I was exploring dark roots and secrets about that world and I was very disturbed while shooting for it because I had to play him for that. I had to believe in his ideologies and that was an extremely disturbing process. It is not something I really enjoyed doing."
Talking about the character, he said, "I could not connect with him at any level. I don’t think anyone would agree with his ideologies. There is no way any sane person would connect to him. What these guys do is extremely inhumane. We all strongly condemn them. But yeah I chose to do this and had to start my process by watching those disturbing videos and documentaries. I would listen to his hate speech over and over again, trying to get myself charged up and gather a lot of hatred and anger inside me which I used while playing the part."
.
When asked if becoming a terrorist on screen was challenging, he quipped, "That is the fun. I love challenges. I get very bored if I do something easy. I have done some stuff in past which were easy and I did not really enjoy them. If there is no challenge, I would want to get some into it. There has to be a sort of excitement."
On being asked about the film’s research since there was no real time reference or a perso, Rajkummar said, "I could not meet anyone. Of course, he is the deadliest terrorist we have in the world. So, not even remotely… we could not make an attempt to meet anyone. But there was study material available online, couple of videos and photos but more than that it was prepping for the character psychologically. To understand why he was doing what he was doing was more important to understand and pick up to perform in the film."
"I knew that it is a darker space and I was ready for it," the actor concluded.
Meanwhile, Rajkummar will also be seen in Aishwarya Rai-starrer Fanne Khan, Sonam Kapoor starrer Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga and Stree.
