His experiences of witnessing communal riots in Varanasi as a youth were what led director Anubhav Sinha to choose terrorism and patriotism as the topic for Mulk. A courtroom drama starring Rishi Kapoor, Taapsee Pannu, Prateik Babbar and Neena Gupta, the film is based on a real-life story that revolves around the struggles of a Muslim family that fights to reclaim its honour after a family member takes to terrorism.
Sinha says the central idea of the film is co-existence. “The country is divided by so many religions, castes, languages and beliefs and within all that, we must co-exist. If there is a feeling of prejudice among people, it will be impossible for us to be a happy nation.”
Prateik is making a comeback of sorts with the film. The actor who was under the influence of alcohol and drugs has turned a new leaf with his role of terrorist Shahid Mohammed in Mulk. Sinha says he made Prateik read a lot of books and watch documentaries for his character. He also asked him to research on the David Headley case.
About his role, Prateik says, “My character is a misguided youth in the world of terrorism. In some documentaries that I watched, I saw little kids who say we want to grow up and kill people, and we
will do it for our Allah and this is our path. Seeing such things is so heart-breaking. My heart literally bleeds for them.”
Taapsee Pannu, whose last film Soorma has been a success, plays the role of lawyer Aarti Mohammed who is married into a Muslim family, in the film. “It is a film for all Indians. Our mentality has narrowed down so much that we differentiate people on the basis of caste and creed. I accepted this film because I would love my children to watch it someday,” she says.
She even had a lawyer on the sets every day to keep a tab on her body language. Taapsee says, “I wanted to know how to carry myself in the court since I had a lot of courtroom scenes. I had watched Mr Bachchan performing in Pink and that was the benchmark for me. Even if I reach somewhere close to him, I will think I have achieved a lot.”
About sharing screen space with Rishi Kapoor, she says, “He’s a typical hot-blooded Punjabi and his volume is always high. My family members are also like that. So, I was comfortable working with him. He would keep telling me how thin I am.”
While Taapsee had a lot of scenes with Rishi, there is only one scene where she will be seen with Prateik. “Yes, we literally had half a scene together but we felt all the turmoil and the happiness of the characters we played. Taapsee is a fabulous actor and gorgeous woman. I wish we could work together again. I like women who are so vocal,” says Prateik.
He plays Rishi Kapoor’s nephew in the film and it was intimidating as well as inspiring to work with him, he says. “He’s 65 and is so experienced that he can pull off any character easily. He is passionate about his work, I wish I could be like him.”
Sinha, who has movies such as Tum Bin, Ra. One and Gulaab Gang, to his credit, says, “It was the most difficult film so far. I did a lot of research for it and wrote the first draft in three days. But after that, I made 13 to 14 drafts of the script and worked on them over a period of seven months.”
Though making such films involves a great deal of effort, he says, “The most difficult scene was when Prateik’s character talks to his family. I was wondering how he will justify to his family that he is right. The dialogues had to be powerful. So, I took help from my brother-in-law, who is a police officer. He helped me access videos of terrorists that are generally not open for public.”
About his forthcoming projects, Sinha says, “I have completed shooting for my next film Abhi Toh Party Shuru Hui Hai. It is set for a December release.”Meanwhile, Prateik and Taapsee also have a busy year ahead. Prateik will be seen in Abhi Toh Party Shuru Hui Hai, a satire on politicians. “I also have a film with Shakti Kapoor’s son in which we play best friends. It’s being directed by Ovais Khan. 2019 is
going to be a great year for me,” Prateik says.
Taapsee has back-to-back releases this year. “There is Manmarziyaan and Badla with Mr Bachchan. I will also be working with actor-turned-director Prakash Raj in Tadka.”