I wanted to avoid meeting Rajkummar Rao, when he first came to my office: Hansal Mehta
“Omerta” director Hansal Mehta, who unveiled the trailer of the film in Delhi on Friday, says his idea behind making an “uncomfortable film” is to make the audience face the truth. Rajkummar Rao plays the cold-blooded British terrorist Omar Sheikh, famed for kidnappings, financing 9/11 and the murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl, in Hansal Mehta’s thriller ‘Omerta.’
According to Mehta, “Omerta” looks at what it means to be a fundamentalist and for someone to pick up a gun with the intent of killing in return for an afterlife in paradise.
“I want to leave the viewer with a sense of awe, disgust, hate, surprise and let them examine the ramifications of these events on their lives today. I want people to react on the movie, there should be debates and discussions”, he added
When asked about Censor Board, Mehta says, “ For me censor board is part of life and I ‘m sure there won’t be any trouble but if there is we will fight for it”.
“‘Omerta’ takes a look at this complex paradox of a man called Omar Saeed Sheikh. It was a difficult subject to choose and a challenge to make.
“However, with an actor like Rajkummar, no challenge seems insurmountable and this was the ideal film to hurtle us out of our comfort zone to make something that is uncomfortable.
“But that is the burden of truth – it is uncomfortable and it must be faced.”
The National Award winning Rajkummar, who has delivered impactful performances in his past associations with Mehta, plays an anti-hero in the movie for the first time.
“‘Omerta’ is among the most researched films that I have worked on till date. I saw lots of videos and stuff online to get into the mindset of Omar. We actually visited some of the places frequented by Omar in London during his transformation from a LSE graduation student to becoming this deadly terrorist.
“I needed to feel and touch this man’s past – to ingest him. It was not an easy journey for me to take. But once the movie is over it took me lot of time to get over with the character. With ‘Omerta’ and Hansal sir, we have a combination that will probably leave you stunned. There will be this moment of shock and silence as the end credits roll,” he said.
While talking about his 5th collaboration with Rajkummar Rao, Mehta says
“When Rajkummar came to my office for the first time i was bit hesitant meeting him but after that our relationship has gone beyond films and i confess Omerta was possible only because of Rajkummar ” ,
” I approached sir for Simran also and wanted to play Simran but he didn’t liked the idea”, . Rajkummar jokingly replied. —
