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.

Hansal Mehta