‘I am excited to play roles I don't agree with’: Prithviraj on his role in ‘Daayra’

Prithviraj Sukumaran says one of the most interesting aspects of playing the lead in Meghna Gulzar’s upcoming film Daayra was the opportunity to inhabit a character whose worldview does not necessarily align with his own.

Speaking at a press conference in Mumbai on September 1, Prithviraj said he is drawn to roles that challenge his personal convictions and allow him to understand perspectives different from his own.

“What excites me as an actor is to play roles that I don’t agree with fully,” Prithviraj said while discussing his portrayal of Raman Kumar, a police officer whose handling of a case comes under scrutiny by a Special Investigation Team led by Kareena Kapoor Khan’s character.

“If I don’t agree with Raman, I need to go about the character with conviction,” he added.

The actor said this process of approaching a character from a position different from his own was particularly rewarding with Daayra. “I don’t disagree with Raman fully. With Daayra, the filmmaker is presenting both sides of an argument. I am an instrument to prop up one side of the argument,” he said.

The film revolves around the investigation into a case and the differing moral and ideological positions of the people involved. Prithviraj said the film is not simply about the incident at its centre, but about what unfolds in its aftermath.

“It’s understandable that people might think these films are similar, but they aren’t. Daayra is not about an incident; it’s about what follows after the incident,” he said.

The film will see Prithviraj sharing screen with Kareena. The actor revealed that their approach to the material was strikingly similar. Recalling his experience of reading the screenplay, Prithviraj said he would often find himself thinking about how Kareena would approach particular scenes.

“When I was reading the other person’s scenes in Daayra, I thought, ‘I wish Kareena does it this way,’ because that would make the scene so much more valid. It’s such a joy when you discover that the interpretations were so similar,” he said. Prithviraj described her as a “brilliant actor” and said it was fascinating to see how she interpreted the story.

A major part of the preparation for Daayra, however, came from its director Meghna. Prithviraj spoke highly of her research-driven approach, describing her as one of the most studious filmmakers he has worked with.

“There was never a single question from an actor to which Meghna did not have an answer,” he said.

He also pointed to the extent of the filmmaker’s preparation before the cameras rolled. According to Prithviraj, the research that went into the pre-production was exhaustive, while Meghna’s test shoots were more elaborate than those in some films he had previously worked in.

Daayra is scheduled to release on September 18.