'When he asked me to get naked, I knew it was for a reason and not just for the heck of it.'
Subhash K Jha reports.
Rajkummar Rao had to do a frontal nude sequence during a violent love-making scene in Omerta.
In fact, the sequence was to be so savage that a 'love-making' partner was hard to find.
"That's right," says director Hansal Mehta. "The sequence required an actress, who would be willing to portray the most violent kind of love-making ever seen in any film... at least, nothing like this has ever been shown in an Indian film."
"It wasn't easy finding an actress to indulge in the violence required in love-making. We did find someone eventually. Hats off to Rajkummar for giving the sequence everything he had, and then some more," says Hansal.
How frustrating it must have been for the actor and the director when this crucial sequence was cut off by the Censor Board.
Rajkummar says he didn't mind dropping his inhibitions and clothes.
"I can do it for Hansal sir. It also depends on how aesthetically it is being shot," the actor says.
"I don't have any issues because I am not doing it; it is my character who is doing it. Of course, we are not doing it to titillate the audience. It is a very important part of the film, a part of the narrative."
Rajkummar points out that this is not the first time he has stripped for the camera.
"In Hansal sir's Shahid, there was a scene where I was completely naked, when my character is in police custody and he is being tortured."
"Again, the nudity was needed, not just for the character, but also for the actor to understand the humiliation and pain he has gone through," he says.
Rajkummar is all praise for Hansal's level of commitment.
"Hansal sir is a fearless director. He is amazing in whatever he does and I completely trust him."
"When he asked me to get naked, I knew it was for a reason and not just for the heck of it."
"I don't mind doing it if it is an important part of the narrative," he says.
