Rajpal goes to prison

MUMBAI, Thursday, June 01, 2006

Rajpal goes to prison

The actor shot with actual inmates of Thane jail

Ram Kamal Mukherjee

Projecting reality as it is seems to be the latest pre-occupation of Bollywood. This time, actor Rajpal Yadav shot in the Thane jail alongside real convicts, for his forthcoming film Undertrial. Apparently, this is the first time in the history of Bollywood that actual prisoners and a real jail have been used in a film.

In Undertrial, Rajpal plays a serious character, that of the protagonist. The actor had to shoot for ten days at the Thane Jail. "I wanted to do this film since it wasn't a regular comedy. It is based on the story of a convict and the jail plays a crucial role in the script. I was surprised when producer Rehan Rizvi got the permission to shoot inside the prison premises. Although, we could have erected sets and re-created the atmosphere, director Aziz Khan insisted that we should try to shoot at the actual location. Once the jail superintendent was satisfied with the script, he let us film for over 10 days inside the jail," says Rajpal.

At the Thane jail, there are nearly a thousand convicts, out of which Rajpal interacted with nearly a hundred. "It was a unique experience for me as an actor and a learning experience for me as a human being. Some of the convicts were happy thinking about their release date, some were repenting on their deeds and some were just chilled out. They all loved films and would wait for hours just to see our shots. Whenever I took a break, they would come up to me and inquire about my films," says Rajpal.

Apart from the jail episode, the actor is tight-lipped about the story line and other cast and crew. Incidentally, Rajpal was taken aback when most of the convicts talked about his film Main Madhuri Dixit Banna Chahti Hoon. "That was amazing. I didn't expect them to talk about this film. I thought they would pick films like Hungama and Waqt. But they insisted that I should work on serious films also," he adds.

Now awaiting the release of his forthcoming film, Hello Main Lallan Bol Raha Hoon, Rajpal feels that he is finally getting his due in the industry. "Many producers and directors are showing interest in signing me as the main lead after Main Meri Patni Aur Woh. While I was interacting with the convicts I told them that it's all about your karma. Life changes when you come of good use to others," says Rajpal.