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  I was a little scared: Rahul Bagga

I was a little scared: Rahul Bagga

AGE CORRESPONDENT
Published : Jun 29, 2015, 11:45 pm IST
Updated : Jun 29, 2015, 11:45 pm IST

After Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana and Mastram, Rahul Bagga is back with another offbeat film, Miss Tanakpur Haazir Ho.

Rahul Bagga (Photo: Satej Shinde)
 Rahul Bagga (Photo: Satej Shinde)

After Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana and Mastram, Rahul Bagga is back with another offbeat film, Miss Tanakpur Haazir Ho. Rahul plays Arjun, a young Harvanyi villager falsely accused of “raping a buffalo”, “Miss Tanakpur” herself.

Based on a bizarre real-life case in Rajasthan, Rahul said he didn’t meet the principals of the incident as he didn’t want his portrayal to be coloured. “As an actor, I don’t believe in that (meeting reference points for onscreen characters) because your interpretations get influenced by what you have seen. So that doesn’t become your ‘original’ work and I wanted to portray him (Arjun) the way I conceptualised him,” Rahul said, on a visit to The Asian Age office.

While the film has received mixed reviews since its release on Friday, Rahul says he didn’t consider whether or not it would have “mass appeal” before signing it. “When we talk about the ‘masses’, I think this is a ‘massy’ film, because in India, the audience is still 70 per cent rural. If there was a doubt, it was whether or not the urban audience would accept it. Their mindset is more about Student Of The Year, where everything is very glossy, there is this larger-than-life image of romance, fancy clothes and fast cars,” he said.

With a premise that needed sensitive handling so that it would come across as the satire it was meant to be, rather than a vulgar, cheap offering, Rahul admitted that he was concerned if Miss Tanakpur Haazir Ho would deliver on its execution. “But when I met Vinod Kapri (the director) I realised that a man who had a 20-year background in journalism wouldn’t just leave everything behind and come to Mumbai to sensationalise a topic or make a film just for money. He is here to tell a story. And it shows through all his characters,” he said.

On a lighter note, was having a buffalo as a co-star difficult “Honestly, I was a little scared of her at the start,” Rahul said. “But then the director told me that the role demanded that I strike up some kind of chemistry with her, so I had to work on my chemistry with two actresses (Hrishita Bhatt and the buffalo)!”