Rohan Vinod Mehra was recently seen essaying the role of army officer Shubhendu Mukherjee in the Hindi crime thriller series 'Kaala' which was created and directed by Bejoy Nambiar. It features an ensemble cast including Avinash Tiwary, Rohan Vinod Mehra, Nivetha Pethuraj, Taher Shabbir, and Hiten Tejwani. 'Kaala' happens to be a really special film for Rohan because he always wanted to play an army officer which he got to do in this film.
In a conversation with ABP Live over a phone call, Rohan shared about the film 'Kaala', spoke about his character and opened up about all the preparations that he had to take for this role.
"I am playing an army officer named Shubhendu Mukherjee. He is sent on a secret mission by his battalion to destroy the tunnel made between India and Bangladesh in 1971 Indo Pakistan War. This tunnel is now used for illegeal activities. So, he is on a mission to blow these tunnels up and during this mission, certain things happen that changes his life and the lives of the people around him."
Interestingly, was first given the character which was played by Avinash but Rohan felt much more connected to Shubhendu Mukherjee. Speaking about this, he said, "It wasn't like I did not like the character Avinash was playing, it's just that sometimes you read a script and there is an emotional connection with the character. So, my emotional connection was with Shubhendu Mukherjee's character (which I play) and I think as an actor when you feel that emotion and your instinct says that this is the character you can play with more truth, probably then you can bring something to your character which someone else can't. So, I felt very connected to Shubhendu Mukherjee."
Talking about how did he prep for the role, Rohan said, "I've always dreamt of playing an army officer from the start of my career, it was on my wishlist and maybe I manifested it. So, in terms of physical preparation of this character, I incorporated army drill in my workout regime and with the Bengali aspect of my character, I have been a huge fan of Bengali cinema and one reason I fell in love with Indian cinema was Satyajit Ray. I grew up watching all his films. He inspired me to eventually want to become an actor. So, there is something about Bengali culture that I understood from a very young age."
Rohan opened up about how it was working in an ensmeble cast where he went on to reveal that he did not have too many scenes with he rest of the case. "I honestly, did not have many shoot days with the rest of the cast because my story in 'Kaala' has been in a very different timeline, in a different track. In fact, I don't think I had any scenes with Avinash in the film. I had very few scenes with the others. Most of my scenes was spending time alone in that environment- a man on the run and hiding. But, during promotions we spent more time together and we all became friends. I was so inspired by them as actors that I hope I can hold the friendship for the rest of my career."
'Kaala' received a lot of positive response from the audience and Rohan was indeed appreciated for his role in the film. Speaking about whether he expected this, he said, "I really hoped that I would get this kind of response. You know, I put in a lot of effort to shine into the role. It's a role that I felt so connected with and was so emotionally involved in. For me 'Kaala' was a very emotional project. So, when you have so much emotions involved in a project and you get appreciated for it, it is really a motivating thing as an actor."
Lastly, Rohan spoke about his favourite scene in the series and shared, "Every scene has a very special place. But, there is a scene when Shubhendu killed Shashwat Roy, he realises that he injured someone else in an attempt to kill this man, and the moment he realises that, he is consumed with so much hate and anger that he had to let go of it and come back to life. So, I really, liked that scene."
Talking about the film, 'Kaala' began streaming on Disney+ Hotstar starting from September 15, 2023.