Ashish Kapoor to play Nepalese Prince

MUMBAI: Television actor Ashish Kapoor will play Nepal crown prince Dipendra in a forthcoming docudrama based on the real life massacre of the Nepal royal family that shook the world on 1 June, 2001.

Kapoor has previously acted in serials like Saarthi, Ghar Ek Mandir, Lavanya and Saat Phere-Saloni Ka Safar.

Titled Zero Hour - a Royal Massacre, and directed by one of the leading editors in the UK, Clive Maltby, the film has Ashish playing the protagonist, Prince Dipendra, the crown prince of Nepal. The film portrays the tragedy that occurred when, on the evening of 1 June, 2001, the Nepalese royal family gathered for a party hosted by the crown Prince. Within less than an hour after their arrival, most of the assembled guests from Nepal's greatest ruling dynasty lay dead or wounded in the bloodiest slaying of any royal family ever recorded.

The film is an account of what happened that fateful evening. It also deals with the mental state of Prince Dipendra that led him to act the way he did on that fateful night.

"Working on this film was a really great experience, as this was the first time that I was working with a primarily foreign crew, with an international production. Plus it's a real challenge to play a real life character that had only recently become a part of history. Prince Dipendra is a very complex character. An affable person to the world, he had a very wild side to him, which would come to the fore once in a while, but reached its zenith on the night of 1 June, 2001," says the excited actor.

Kapoor is no fresher to the world of cinema. He has already made waves in the International film circuit, with short films like Open Doors and War or Peace in his kitty. His performance in Open Doors received plaudits galore, where he played the character of an unpredictable dual personality and the film is being screened at the ongoing Kara Film Festival in Pakistan.

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