He may be a relatively new actor, but Badlapur director Sriram Raghavan thinks that Varun Dhawan has "tasted blood" and given his all to his character and the film, which also stars Nawazuddin Siddhiqui, Huma Qureshi, Divya Dutta, Yami Gautam, Radhika Apte and Vinay Pathak in principle roles.
In an exclusive interview with DARPAN, the celebrated director, known for making dark and intriguing films, opens up about the eagerly awaited crime drama in which Varun will be seen enacting the role of the main character Raghu.
"I had met [Varun] a couple of times before and found him fun to talk to. I was narrating the story [of Badlapur] to my producer. I had just finished and he asked me who I had in mind. And by a divine coincidence, Varun dropped in. I narrated the story to him, just to get a reaction. He connected with the story, much to my surprise. In that one meeting I think we had found our Raghu," says Raghavan.
Spilling details about the plot, the director explains that the film, which has been shot in real locations like the Nashik Jail, in trains, a Bus Terminus and even on crowded streets, sometimes with a hidden camera, tells the story of a man who "leaves everything and relocates to a lonely place in a mundane job" after his wife and child are killed in a dacoity. After 15 years, "he gets his chance to take revenge [and] the wounded victim turns ruthless predator."
Raghavan, who has previously directed acclaimed films like Ek Haseena Thi and Johnny Gaddar , also mentions that in order to understand and play the role of an aging character in the film, Varun did a lot of homework and also watched many films like Raging Bull, Once Upon a Time in America, and Shawshank Redemption.
Speaking about how he came up with the story and concept of Badlapur, the talented director makes yet another interesting revelation.
"After Agent Vinod I took a break to recharge and was reading a lot of fiction and true crime and so on. I came across a story set in Europe that I liked a lot. It began as a thriller and I thought I could predict how it would turn out. But it went in unexpected directions and at the end, I felt something inside me. It's a true story though the name were changed and so on. I researched a bit and got the rights."
He adds that while the film now features five songs which aid in taking the story forward, initially there were no song situations and hence he never thought about including any in the movie.
"Sachin and Jigar [music directors] have given me such good music that they are my friends forever. I narrated the script to them about a year back. I said there is no scope for songs so maybe we should focus on a good background score. They didn't talk about music, they just talked about the story and the characters. And then, one by one, they gave me songs that not just fitted well, but just took the film to another level that I didn't imagine while I was writing it," explains Raghavan.
