Sohum Shah has got rave reviews for his turn as the rogue cop, ACP Vedant Mishra, in Meghna Gulzar's Talvar. The 32-year-old actor is understandably elated with the feedback. “It was a grey character, I was surprised when I was offered the role since it was quite different from the subtle character I'd done in my previous film, Ship Of Theseus (SoT),“ he admits, saying he signed the film because he felt it was thought-provoking. He is happy it has renewed interest in the Aarushi Talwar-Hemraj Banjade twin murders; the case Talvar is based on, saying it has had the 'desired impact.' Of course, there was the bonus of getting to work with Irrfan Khan (who plays his superior Ashwin Kumar) Vishal Bhardwaj (writer and co-producer) and Meghna Gulzar (director). “It's great that people have noticed my work despite the presence of an extraordinary actor like Irrfan,“ he exults.

As part of his elaborate prep for the character, Sohum weaved a back-story for his character to understand him better. “I studied about the CBI structure and the different aspects of their functionalities. I mailed the entire back-story to Meghna,“ he adds.

Meanwhile, the actor has initiated a 'story search' online campaign across India to encourage new writing talent. “Ship Of Theseus began as an idea and was later converted into a script. We will short-list the entries and mentor the winner to develop a script that will be made into a film,“ Sohum reveals.

Is he writing a script too? “I can't write but I want to encourage those who can. We have so many talented people around who are unable to realise their potential due to various constraints. We want to give them a platform,“ he signs off.