Lalit Prabhakar on Playing Kasab in Prahaar

Lalit Prabhakar, a Marathi actor in only his second Hindi film, plays Ajmal Kasab in Prahaar: The Untold Story of Ujjwal Nikam. Before the Oct. 16 release he described to NDTV how he prepared, and why some people told him not to take the role. Reviewers have since singled out the performance.

How he got the part

NDTV reports that Prahaar is Prabhakar's second Hindi film after One Two Cha Cha Chaa. He works mainly in Marathi cinema, theatre and streaming, and his credits include Anandi Gopal, for which he went bald, Zombivli, Medium Spicy, Toh Ti Ani Fuji and the series Pet Puraan.

He said his name was not in contention at first because the character is Pakistani, with a different build and diction. Director Avinash Arun thought he could play it. After an audition, Prabhakar said, he was finalised the same day, and he said yes before reading the script because he trusted Arun.

How he prepared

Prabhakar told NDTV he trained for a week with dialect coach Amitoj Singh and watched the only video of Kasab available online, in which Kasab is injured and being interviewed. He said the team used it to piece together his speech pattern.

Kasab was shorter than Prabhakar, so he moved his neck back, dropped his shoulders and slouched. He also read Ramesh Mahale's book Kasab Ani Mee to understand what happened after the arrest and how Kasab was interrogated. He said the film shows Kasab as a flawed human being, and that writer Sumit Roy made his job easier.

On the criticism, he said: "Kuch logon ne mujhe bola bhi ki aisi film nahin karni chahiye." In English, some people told him not to do a film or a character like this. He said he thought about the good film and the good people involved, according to Cinema Express and NDTV.

What he says about Nikam's reaction

Prabhakar said he never met Ujjwal Nikam during the shoot. He said Nikam was later shown photos and a scene and responded that Prabhakar looked exactly like Kasab and had caught every nuance, and that police officers who caught Kasab alive reacted the same way. These remarks are the actor's account and we could not verify them with Nikam.

What reviewers said

The Hindu's Anuj Kumar calls the performance stunning and unpredictable, though he says the dialect is a bit dodgy. The Tribune's Subhash K Jha says Kasab is played somewhat theatrically. Scroll says the film dares to humanise the figure of the public imagination, and calls that one of its more successful choices.

Background

A special court sentenced Kasab to death on May 3, 2010, and he was hanged at Yerwada Central Jail in Pune on Nov. 21, 2012, according to NDTV.

What we could not confirm

We have not seen the film or spoken to Prabhakar. His account of Nikam's reaction and of the casting is as told to NDTV and repeated by Cinema Express.

Sources

*Cover photo: Bollywood Hungama, Wikimedia Commons, *[*https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lalit_Prabhakar.jpg*](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lalit_Prabhakar.jpg)* (CC BY 3.0).*