Raj Kundra Recalls His Days In Arthur Road Jail At Biopic UT-69 Trailer Launch: 'Shilpa And I Believed....'

Raj Kundra finally revealed his face almost after two years as he unveiled the teaser for his debut movie 'UT 69', which will recount the tale of his time spent in Mumbai's Arthur Road prison.

New Delhi: Raj Kundra finally revealed his face almost after two years as he unveiled the teaser for his debut movie 'UT 69', which will recount the tale of his time spent in Mumbai's Arthur Road prison. Raj, businessman and husband of Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty, was detained for more than two months after being arrested by the Mumbai Police in July 2021 for his suspected involvement in the production and distribution of pornographic films.

Talking about it, Raj said at the trailer launch event, "The film is about my 63 days in the jail, from the day I entered that red gate to the day I came out. Shilpa and I believed that if there was even an ounce of truth in the allegations and if I was guilty then I would have my head hanging in shame. But I came out like a lion because I knew I had done no wrong. The matter is subjudice, we have full faith in the judiciary.”

Raj mentioned how UT-69 is a satirical comedy based on true events in his life and said, "When you bring a British citizen to the jail, everything becomes funny — the way you’re given your food, watered down dal, the place to stay, it was tough. Even when I was writing it, I was wondering how did we reach here.”

The businessman, who is all set to make his acting debut with the biopic, recounted his days spent in jail. Getting emotional, he said, "When you send your film to the CBFC (Central Board of Film Certification) for censorship and call it ‘based on a true story’, they ask for a lot of supporting evidence. We have given it, so many people who were inside (the jail), helped us, given their testaments. Human rights (organisations) have rated the jails, they’ve seen what the situation is like inside the jail. So, the reason to tell this story is because jails are not like how we think they are, or are in the US or shown in Hollywood. We have shown the jail as a dark grungy place, honestly it is a horrible place, but it was what it was, I laughed and cut time there."

He added further, "There are real people inside, Arthur Road is not a jail, it is like a detention centre where you are sent just so that no one can tamper with witness statements and police can carry out their questioning. You come out of there and then face your trial. In a detention centre, they treat you worse than criminals, you are just accused, so that I didn’t like but now our message is loud and clear that definitely reforms are needed.”

Raj also mentioned how, while he was in prison, he made friends with a few inmates who were "decent" to converse to. "You become a kind of dysfunctional family. The man who was sleeping to my right was accused of 88 murders, and the one sleeping to my left was accused to child rape. There were quite creepy people around, but I was given a couple of jawabdars (influential inmates appointed by the jail authorities to take care of the barrack) who would keep an eye on me. I was told not to talk to anyone there and nobody will talk to me. I felt I would be out in a week or so, so it wouldn’t be a big deal, I had not imagined that I would end up being there for 63 days."

He continued, "I made friends there with a couple of people who I thought were decent. When you stay with someone for 60 days, you become connected. When you see the film you’ll understand the bonds and the relationships that we made together. I made some friends inside, they are also stuck in various cases.”

Raj Kundra is not only making his acting debut with UT-69 but has also penned the script for the film directed by Shahnawaz Ali. U-69 releases in theatres on November 3.