Arjun Rampal on ‘The Rapist,’ working with Konkona Sen Sharma, and more

‘The Rapist’, directed by Aparna Sen, narrates the trauma of a sexual assault survivor. The film had its Indian premiere at the International Film Festival of Kerala recently 

“Some films just happen and The Rapist was one of those,” says Arjun Rampal. The film, directed by National Award-winner Aparna Sen, recently had its Indian premiere at IFFK 2022 in Thiruvananthapuram. A gripping drama following the life of an academic Naina (Konkona Sen Sharma) who survives a brutal sexual assault, the movie had its world premiere earlier at the 6th Busan International Film Festival where it eventually won the prestigious Kim Jiseok Award.

The narrative explores how the heinous incident changes the lives of three people: Naina, a professor of criminology; her husband Aftab Malik (Arjun Rampal), also a professor; and Prasad Singh (Tanmay Dhanania) who is convicted for the crime. When Naina, who is struggling with physical and emotional trauma, decides to understand how the mindset of Prasad works, her relationship with Aftab suffers. 

In a telephonic interview, Arjun talked at length about his journey with the project. “Aparna ma’am has taken a different approach to a subject that has become rampant in our society. She has handled it so sensitively as she takes the audience through what transpires after the incident. The emotional trajectory of the characters is bang-on; I hope it makes people realise that it is the worst thing to do to anybody,” he says.

The model-turned-actor says that he was surprised when the role came his way. “I asked myself, ‘Am I really working with Aparna Sen?’ She is such a beautiful person, and I think she might have felt the same way about me! We had earlier interacted a couple of times on various other projects which never materialised, so I kept wanting to work with her. My mentor Ashok Mehta used to say that I should do at least one movie with her.”

Arjun adds that Aparna’s characters are not at any point contrived or superficial: “I just love her mind... you have to just belong there. Once she took me through the script, she asked for my inputs to enhance the character and how I would feel in certain situations. She went back and rewrote a lot of it; she did it with every character I believe.”

The actors also went through a workshop prior to the shoot. “I had never met Konk (Konkona) nor had I ever interacted with her before. There was no prior friendship between us. But in the film, we were playing a husband and wife who share such a delightful bond. So, at the workshop we sat and spoke about each other, did a few scenes, some exercises, meditation... and a lovely friendship developed organically that put us at ease,” he explains.

The film, produced by Applause Entertainment in association with Quest Films Pvt Ltd, was shot in 27 days in Delhi, that too during the small window between the first and second wave of the pandemic. “There was tremendous pressure on all of us... the cast, crew, the producers. Aparna ma’am was working 14 hours a day on certain occasions. She is this lioness! I haven’t seen the full film yet, and couldn’t be at Busan for the premiere. But just before the awards were announced, I sent a message to her, ‘Our film is going to win,’ and it happened. There is a lot of purity, integrity and honesty in the effort she has put in.”