Omerta set for ZEE5 premiere on July 25

Rajkummar Rao in Omerta

Director Hansal Mehta's "Omerta", featuring Rajkummar Rao, will premiere on ZEE5 on July 25, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. The 2017 critically-acclaimed movie is based on the life of British-born Pakistani terrorist Omar Saeed Sheikh, played by Rao. Rao said Omar was one of the most challenging characters he has ever played on screen.

"I could never have imagined that playing this part would mentally take me to such dark places. It's a journey of one of the deadliest terrorists of our times and Hansal sir pushed me out of my boundaries to explore," the actor said in a statement. "It is great that ZEE5 will premiere this film digitally, which the world will be able to see," he added. Mehta said he is looking forward to the digital premiere of the film.

"This is a film I'm very proud of. And as the film had predicted then Omar Sheikh with all his complicity in some of this centuries' most heinous acts of terror is on his way to acquittal by Pakistan's apex court. "It is an important document of our times, a thriller that is finally set to release on ZEE5 and I am really looking forward for the world to experience 'Omerta'," he added.

"Omerta" had its world premiere at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival, it was the closing film The Mumbai Film Festival, New York Indian film Festival and R2R Florence Film Festival. It was an official selection at the Hong Kong International Film Festival and Busan International Film Festival. The film released theatrically in India in May 2018 and received positive reviews from critics.

Mehta and Rao have previously collaborated on films like "Shahid", "Citylights" and "Aligarh", and web series "Bose: Dead/Alive", on which the director served as creative producer. The duo are set to reunite for "Chhalaang", a social comedy set in Uttar Pradesh.

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