In 2020, when actor Rahul Bhat was going through a bleak phase in his personal life, his art brought him the solace he sought. “I was going through a divorce. Then, the pandemic happened. It was gloomy and dull. Then the script of Kennedy came my way,” he recounts. Anurag Kashyap’s films often show us the dark side of humanity — hardly the kind that brings one comfort.

But in the noir drama Kennedy, Bhat found an outlet to creatively channel his inner turmoil. “The script was too dark. Perhaps Anurag was going through his own catharsis at that point. He let me read the script only once, and then took it away. But I felt this was the story I was looking for.”

Kennedy, which has Sunny Leone as the leading lady, is gearing up for its première in the Midnight Screenings section at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival. Bhat, who collaborated with Kashyap on the critically acclaimed Ugly (2014) and Dobaaraa (2022), counts him among the finest writer-directors in the country today. But, more importantly, he regards the filmmaker as someone with whom he has developed a spiritual connection.

“No one understands the medium the way Anurag does. He leaves you alone, only nudging you here and there. On the first few days of Kennedy’s shoot, it was such a silent set that it scared me. When I asked him why he wasn’t talking to me, he laughed, ‘We are creating something. Go on. Let’s not talk.’ That’s our relationship. It has more silence than noise.”

With the director, the actor cracked the tough character of an insomniac ex-cop. “I gave the character almost eight months before going on the set. I had to bulk up first. What was more difficult was to get inside his mind. His walk and stare were the most important [nuances] to crack. He is so huge yet invisible. He is calm, yet there is a lot of violence in him.”