Hansal Mehta Surprised By ‘UA’ Certificate For Omerta Trailer

If you have seen  the trailer  of Hansal Mehta’s new  film Omerta you would know it isn’t for the weak-willed. Violent and  brutal, savage in  its depiction of terrorism , it is an apologetically violent  portrayal  of  a rudderless immoral world .

 That  the  film’s violent trailer has been granted a ‘UA’ certificate  is  very encouraging for  Hansal Mehta. “It  means  the  CBFC is finally looking at films  within their given context and not judging them  in isolation. If I make  a film about a violent situation  there is  bound to be violence  at  heart of the film.”

At  a time when terror outfits are being heavily clamped –down  on  Hansal Mehta’s Omerta  could be  perceived as  a  too-hot-to-handle bio-pic on the terror activities of Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh who was said to be  a  mastermind  of 9/11 and.

 Hansal is hoping to see the film make it into theatres without any cuts. “We’ve had screenings of  the film the worldover. We showed it at the Toronto Film Festival to  packed  houses. We did a screening at MAMI and at the Florence Film Festival where the audience was almost fully Italian. They understood the context  of the point I  was making about State-sanctioned terrorism. I hope our censor board will get the point too. If they don’t I am ready for battle. I won’t take any cuts.”

Rajkummar Rao who plays the lead in Omerta felt his  boundaries as  an actor being pushed by the demands  of the character. “Omerta is a very powerful film I feel. As an actor it took a toll on my mental health. It wasn’t an easy character to portray but Hansal Sir pushed me to my limits. We made this film with a lot of honesty and passion.”

This  is  the  first time Rao plays an unapologetically negative  character. “It’s an antagonist story so that way it was a first for us. It feels great when audiences like our effort and can see the honesty in our film.”