On the occasion of the third anniversary of Alia Bhatt-fronted “Raazi”, actor Amruta Khanvilkar on Tuesday reminisced about the making of the hit espionage drama.
Produced by Junglee Pictures and Dharma Productions, the film is based on Harinder Sikka’s novel “Calling Sehmat”.
Directed by Meghna Gulzar, “Raazi” featured Bhatt as Sehmat Khan, who crossed the border in 1971 as an Indian spy after she gets married to a Pakistani military officer Iqbal Syed (Vicky Kaushal) and extracted crucial classified information.
Khanvilkar, who essayed the role of Munira Syed, the sister-in-law of Bhatt’s character, said in a social media post that the film came to her after she spent two years without any work.
The 36-year-old actor revealed she called up casting director Jogi Malang in 2017, who told her about the film. After that she received a call for audition from Dharma’s office.
“I waited and Meghna mam walked in… She told me she really liked the audition but I’ll have to work on my Urdu since the character is a Pakistani Muslim,” Khanvilkar wrote on Instagram.
“I said ‘ok’ and she said ‘congratulations’… not registering what she said I asked her ‘mam you don’t need another audition?’ She smiled and said ‘No …welcome aboard’. After she left, I just sat there alone and let it all sink in,” she added.
Khanvilkar said she took a “leap of faith” with “Raazi” and she will cherish the time she spent working on the film all her life.
“The wait… the no work phase and now sitting at this office sipping coffee. How did it happen so easily… Or was it easy at all ? Sometimes things that are meant for you are yours alone,” Khanvilkar wrote.
“A leap of faith is all that you require. Working on ‘Raazi’ was fulfilling at many levels personal as well as professional. I hugely want to thank Jogi sir (casting director) and @meghnagulzar mam for believing in me and giving me this part… ‘Raazi’ was, is and will always be special to me,” she added.
Dharma Productions also marked the third anniversary of the film on its official Twitter account by sharing a photograph of Bhatt as Sehmat.
“The valiant story of the fearless Sehmat, for whom nothing matters than the country, not even herself,” the banner tweeted.
Junglee Pictures also took to the microblogging site to mark the milestone with stills from the movie.
“Today marks the third anniversary of #Raazi. A spy movie that defied the genre’s traditional expectations and amazed us with emotions, instead of explosions. #3YearsOfRaazi,” the post on Junglee Pictures official handle read.
“Raazi” was one of the highest-grossing films of the year 2018, reportedly earning over Rs 200 crore worldwide.
The film also featured Rajit Kapur, Shishir Sharma, Jaideep Ahlawat and Soni Razdan in a pivotal roles.
