Veteran Bollywood actors Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri and Padmini Kohlapure will now share the silver screen with two newcomers in Bolo Raam that releases in cinema halls on December 31.
Billed as a gripping thriller, Bolo Raam is about a boy Raam Kaushik (Rishi Bhutan) who is charged with the murder of his mother Archana (Padmini Kohlapure). Raam falls into a state of shock and brief psychotic disorder after his mom’s death and becomes silent refusing to talk or react in any manner.
Commenting on his role, Naseeruddin says he is playing a psychiatrist who is given a task to make Raam speak in order to bring out the truth behind the mysterious death of his mother. “It is an intense character and I enjoyed working with Rakesh Chaturvedi, who has been a great actor before he came to directing this film… It feels great to be working with Padmini after a long gap. It was Wo Saat Din in which we were seen together before this. Also teaming up with Om Puri after Maqbool and Shoot on Sight was a nice experience.”
On sharing the screen with the new kid (Rishi) on the block, the senior actor says: “I must say that it doesn’t look from anywhere that Rishi has done his first film. His character was the toughest yet he performed the role effortlessly. The young boy has a lot of talent and would go miles.”
Rishi, who has been engrossed in the theatre world for the past five years in Mumbai, says his first shot in his debut film was with Naseeruddin. “Naseerji is a brilliant actor. Acting is all about give and take and as I was sharing the screen with an extraordinary actor like Naseerji it had a positive impact on me and my acting improved. Both he and Padminiji supported me throughout the making of the film.”
Thanking his mentor Rakesh Chaturvedi for brushing up his acting skills in the competitive field of stage acting, Rishi, says he has been doing theatre under his watchful guidance.
“There are no retakes in theatre and you get automatic feedback from the audience. Though this is my first film, I didn’t feel the initial awkwardness in my first shot before the camera. Filmmaking is different in terms of technical and light but is has its advantage like retakes. But if a director asks you for ten retakes then it becomes difficult for the actor.”
Though the film’s shooting has been done in Khandala, Bolo Raam is based in a nondescript town of Uttarakhand. Shot in a mere 34 days, the film has taken one full year for release.
Playing a bubbly next door girl came natural to Delhi University’s III year student Disha Pandey.
“I am just playing myself. I am playing Juhi, whose father is a sub-inspector. She falls in love with the protagonist Rishi but the love is one-sided. I consider myself lucky to have landed up with the role. Even though I wasn’t doing professional theatre, I have been acting in stage shows right from my school days in Sophia Secondary School in Jaipur. I also did college theatre in Delhi University’s Dyal Singh Evening College where I am doing B.A. Pass.”
