Rajkummar Rao: ‘Omerta’ was emotionally and physically draining

Mumbai July 8

Rajkummar Rao recalls how Hansal Mehtas 2017 release “Omerta” allowed him to push his boundary as an actor.

“Omar in Omerta is certainly one of the most challenging characters I have ever played on screen. It drained me completely emotionally and physically. I could never have imagined that playing this part would mentally take me to such dark places. It’s a journey of one of the most deadly terrorists of our times and Hansal sir pushed me out of my boundaries to explore,” said Rajkummar, about the film that saw him essay Omar Saeed Sheikh, British terrorist of Pakistani descent.

“This wasn’t an easy film to make, with multiple locations, adverse weather conditions and often limited resources. What we had in ample measure was heart. The entire team has put their heart and soul into every minute of the process throughout the way,” the actor added.

Rajkummar has done some of his best work in Hansal Mehta films. In fact, his performance in Mehta’s 2013 release “Shahid” won him Best Actor at the National Awards.

Mehta opened up about his association with the actor. “This (‘Omerta’) was my fifth collaboration with Rajkummar Rao, and perhaps one of his biggest challenges as an actor. After having made films like ‘Shahid’, ‘Citylights’ and ‘Aligarh’ together, we were exploring a character’s inner darkness through this film’s protagonist Omar Sheikh. This is a film I’m very proud of. ‘Omerta’ is an important document of our times,” he said of the film, which streams on the Zee5 July 25 onwards.