Going into Faraaz, Aditya Rawal understood the responsibility of playing a character that belongs to a religion, which has been unfortunately stereotyped in Hindi cinema. The actor, who plays radicalised youngster Nibras in the hostage drama, wanted to make sure that he portrayed different aspects of Islam correctly. That is where director Hansal Mehta stepped in, approaching the subject with the sensitivity and accuracy it deserves.

“There is a risk in depicting a religion that you don’t belong to. So, Hansal sir roped in the film’s associate writer, Ekhlaq Ahmed Khan, for workshops. [He taught us] how to recite suras, [helped us] understand some facets of the religion, and how the same point can be interpreted in two ways, which is also what the film is about,” begins the actor.

Faraaz, starring debutant Zahaan Kapoor in the titular role, revolves around the 2016 attack at the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka, where terrorists held customers hostage for over 12 hours before killing over 20 of them. Noting that a story so sensitive could be easily misrepresented, Aditya credits Mehta, and writers Kashyap Kapoor, Raghav Kakker and Ritesh Shah for infusing it with empathy. 

“From our first meeting, Hansal sir and I sensed the direction we wanted to take for Nibras. A lot of radicalized youngsters are vulnerable, lonely and get [influenced by] the wrong kind of people. They are intelligent, driven boys who could have become world leaders. Instead, they were taken down this dark path.”

While the film is set to release tomorrow, Aditya — who was recently seen in Aar Ya Paar — has earned a nod of approval from actor-father Paresh Rawal. He says he will treasure his father’s compliment for years to come. “My father was quite moved by the film. He said that I should consider myself lucky as actors usually get such stories after spending years in the industry.”