Saqib Saleem on playing contract killer: I was quite non-judgmental

Saqib Saleem

Bollywood actor Saqib Saleem, who is playing a contract killer in the web show Rangbaaz, says during the shooting of the show, he was quite non-judgmental about every action of the character. "I was quite non-judgmental about Shukla. I slowly went through the story, the psyche of the character…I learnt the accent because the character is from Gorakhpur. I internalized the character in a manner, where I realized that one does not have to scream to portray anger," Saqib told IANS.

For the show, the 30-year-old went through an extensive process to get into the character. He said: "Our director Bhav also guided me to understand how I can channelize my emotion through my eyes rather than playing it loud as it is expected generally when a character of a contract killer is narrated."

Set in Uttar Pradesh, the story revolves around Shiv Prakash Shukla, a contract killer who entered into the world of crime at a very young age and by the age of 25, he became one of the most wanted criminals of the nation. Shukla died in 1998.

So, was he nervous to take the show on his shoulder?

"I wasn't worried about taking the responsibility of the show. As I am playing the central character, I was a little unsure if I can manage to pull out the character, that is based on the true event, real-life people. This was quite away from my comfort zone. Since the beginning, I never played an out and out spine-chilling killer like this."

In fact, according to the actor, that was one of the reasons he got excited to be part of the story.

"It was challenging, I was really looking forward to a challenge so that I can put myself in an uncomfortable zone and grow from there," Saqib added. Rangbaaz featuring Tigmansgu Dhulia, Aahana Kumra, Ravi Kishan and Ranvir Shorey is streaming on ZEE5.

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