Published 19:51 IST, September 18th 2020
Barun Sobti on playing a cop in ‘Halahal': ‘It was tough, real cops are not superheroes'
Actor Barun Sobti who became a household name with the popular television show Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon is all set to enthrall his fans with his film Halahal.
Actor Barun Sobti who became a household name with the popular television show Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon is all set to enthrall his fans with his upcoming film Halahal. The crime thriller film inspired by true events, starring Barun and Sachin Khedekar in the lead roles, shows Barun in a fierce cop look. In an exclusive conversation with Republicworld, the actor opened up about the film and his experience of playing a cop for the first time on screen.
Barun Sobti talks about the challenges he underwent
Barun who will be seen essaying the role of Yusuf Qureshi in the highly-anticipated film said that the film is based on a fictional account of true events. Elaborating further, he said, "The story is about a father who is told that her daughter has committed suicide. He being an alert citizen tries to figure out what happened with his daughter and things don’t add up according to him. So he comes to a corrupt/ colourful cop Yusuf Qureshi which is being played by me to embark on a journey to find the truth about his daughter and on their journey, the two receive remarkable surprises with due respect to the functioning of the society.”
Barun has always charmed his fans with a chocolaty boy image and innocent looks. But with, Halal, the actor said that he had a really tough time playing a cop as he has never played one before. Narrating his wonderful experience of playing a police officer, Barun said,
"I think the first thing I had to do is cloud my thinking with the image of the cop on cinema. It was tough because real-life cops are not superheroes. They are superheroes with respect to the kind of courage they show to protect the civilians, but they are not that kind of superheroes where they kick a person and that person dies and 50 people go flying. So firstly I had to cover shield that part and made sure that I don’t portray anything which I have never seen.”
Barun added, “My intention was to essay the role of a real person, more than a cop. The character I am playing, in the film, is landed into a job where he is morally on a ground where he figures out his journey and the situations which made a person who he is today. These are the challenges I feel that any actor would undergo. Usually what happens is that an actor is given reference before he starts preparing for any character so that he can see and learn the way. But, in my case, I don’t take any references. I have never watched any film to prepare for any of my characters. My dialect was not a challenge, but yes, the consistency was one of the difficulties I felt playing the role of a cop.”
Updated 19:51 IST, September 18th 2020