Method acting attained a compelling crest in Vikramaditya Motwane’s Trapped. A so-so survival saga in which Rajkummar Rao submerged himself into the role of a man immersed in the rituals of abject isolation, a sort of modern day Robinson Crusoe in survival tale fully flawed and convincing, rescued by Rao’s hefty performance. Rao lost oodles of weight for the part.
Playing a man trapped in an apartment in a highrise for nearly two weeks without food or water, Raj shed over ten kilos to look like a man who is unlikely to survive his ordeal. Such dedication to depicting desolation was evident only in Tom Hanks when he did Castaway. Alas, the material provided for Raj’s survival story could barely survive its own ridiculous plot premise.
Recalls Rao, “In 2017, I had a whole gamut of performances and films from Bareilly Ki Barfi to Newton. I received the Filmfare award for Trapped. The whole shoot of Trapped was a very organic process. Apart from working on the character’s background and his relationship with other people I decided to live every moment as it came. One really can't prepare how one would react if one is living without food and water for days.”
Rao actually stopped eating and drinking. “Fortunately we were shooting in sequence, I stopped eating and drinking after day 1 of my character being trapped and post that I was just reacting in the moment and was trying to live each moment truthfully. During the course of our shoot, I realised that for our body, having water is more important than having food. Of course both are important but to survive without water is very scary. It's very scary to be aloof be it on a mental level or physical.”
The actor who has played everything from saint to sinner loves to challenge himself as long as it is not health hazard. “As an actor I love challenging myself. Of course it's not right to push yourself outside your limits. It should only be done under proper guidance. If a character demands something from me as an actor I would love to go to an extreme to fulfil that demand. It's my job and responsibility as an actor.”
