We wanted a lot of realism in 'Mulk': Anubhav Sinha

Mumbai: Filmmaker Anubhav Sinha who is all set to come up with courtroom drama, 'Mulk' starring Taapsee Pannu, Rishi Kapoor, Prateik Babbar and Ashutosh Rana, says his characters underwent intense lessons, as he wanted a lot of realism to be involved in the film.

The starcast of the Anubhav Sinha's courtroom drama, 'Mulk' - Taapsee Pannu, Rishi Kapoor, Prateik Babbar and Ashutosh Rana underwent intense lessons before they got into the thick of their character for the film.

Upon quizzing Anubhav on the star cast preparation, he said "We wanted a lot of realism to be involved in the film. So yes, we hired the services of professionals like a judicial expert, a religious practitioner, a law and order representative and the likes.''

While Prateik Babbar read up extensively on American terrorist of Pakistani origin, David Headley and watched 'Among The Believers' documentary on Netflix for his role as the misguided youth, a religious Muslim scholar was called in specially from Malihabad to oversee Rishi Kapoor's scenes involving Muslim rituals.

Ashutosh Rana and Taapsee Pannu who play public prosecutor and defence lawyer respectively were trained by retired high court judge Nadeem Siddiqi from Lucknow for their courtroom scenes to ensure the legal system was aptly represented.

''Prateik did a lot of reading up and in particular the David Headley episode as I wanted him to be in the thick of the character,'' Anubhav said.

''I wanted my star cast to be thoroughly prepared for the film and dive deep into their characters. Every actor invested close to three months in preparation for their respective roles. There was a lot of research undertaken since the film is inspired by true life events. I was quite impressed with every actor's contribution to their on screen portrayal since a lot of them didn't need any retakes because they were well researched,'' he said.

''Ideally a film of this nature takes a minimum of two months, but we managed to finish shooting the entire film in a span of 29 days in a place like Lucknow, which was commendable,'' he added.

Presented by Kamal Mukut and Soham Rockstar Entertainment, a Benaras Media Works production, the film is produced by Deepak Mukut and Anubhav Sinha and directed by Anubhav Sinha. 

The film features Rishi Kapoor, Taapsee Pannu,  Neena Gupta, Rajat Kapoor,  Manoj Pahwa, Kumud Mishra,  Ashutosh Rana, Prachee Shah Paandya, Vartika Singh, Ashrut Jain, Indraneil Sengupta.

The first set of posters that were revealed recently showcase Taapsee Pannu essaying the role of a defense lawyer named Aarti Mohammed in the film and Rishi Kapoor essaying the role of the accused named Murad Ali Mohammed in the film. 

Prateik Babbar essays the misguided youth - Shahid Mohammed, Ashutosh Rana the public prosector- Santosh Anand while Rajat Kapoor the investigating officer ? Danish Javed. 

The teaser of the film opened with a voice declaring that Rishi Kapoor is a traitor even as he defends himself by stating he is not. 

A quick series of shots showed his arrest, commotion in public and his family's ordeal. 

The teaser ended with a short speech by Taapsee Pannu before the bench, where she declares that a nation is not divided by the lines on a map but by colour, language, religion and caste.(UNI)