Vikramaditya Motwane on his 3rd film featuring Rajkummar Rao

The filmmaker on his third directorial, featuring Raj Kummar Rao and an apartment.

Four years after his last film, Lootera, Vikramaditya Motwane is returning to the theatres with a survival thriller, Trapped, featuring Raj Kummar Rao who's trapped in his apartment in an unoccupied high-rise for three weeks.

"Amit Joshi had emailed me an idea. I asked if he had a screenplay. He didn't respond for two months, then, one day, the screenplay landed in my inbox. There was no director in place and being a greedy filmmaker I took it up," says Vikram, who wrapped up film in less than a month.

He was simultaneously working on his vigilante drama, Bhavesh Joshi, and another thriller, AK vs SK with Shahid Kapoor when he ran into Raj at a screening and had discussed the idea with him. The actor was equally excited. "AK vs SK didn't work out and one day, Raj called to enquire about Trapped. I asked him if he had dates free the next month, he did and I immediately asked my assistants to scout for locations in Mumbai," reminisces Vikram who's all praise for his lead actor.

He informs that while trapped inside his house, Raj's character, Shaurya, runs out of food and water. To look the part, the actor went on a rigorous diet of black coffee and two carrots a day through the duration of the shoot. "I felt bad for him, but as a filmmaker I was happy he was putting so much effort into my film," he adds.

Quiz him on his long hiatus from direction and he points out that he was busy with production and working on Bhavesh Joshi and AK vs SK. "But now my target is to make two films a year," informs Vikram, who is currently focusing on finishing his vigilante drama.

Mirror (February 4, 2015) had reported that he had put the project on hold earlier because the story, written when the Congress was in power and corruption rampant, was no longer topical. Has the script changed and has demonetisation found its way into the film? "I began writing in 2011 but I've made it more contemporary now. Sadly demonetisation hasn't been touched upon as it happened after we had begun shooting," he rues.

Prod him on whether he is anxious about his leading man's Harshvardhan Kapoor's box-office equity after the debacle of his debut film, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's Mirzya, and Vikram asserts, "Not at all. Every film has its own journey. Harsh is a fine actor and I don't think these things matter to the audience."

And like Bhavesh Joshi, will he return to AK vs SK someday? "It's a great script and I'm certain that the film will get made at some point with the right actor," he says.

Any plans for Udaan 2? "Your first film remains your fondest and it's intriguing to know what happened to the characters. I do have a story idea, it might happen or it might not," he signs off.