Mumbai: Filmmaker Vikramaditya Motwane’s film Trapped, starring Rajkummar Rao, got a standing ovation at its world premiere at the 18th Jio MAMI Mumbai International Film Festival on Thursday.
In the survival-drama-thriller, Rao’s character is trapped in his high-rise building.
The 105-minute-long film received thundering applause and when Motwane and the Aligarh star came forward for a question and answer session they were welcomed with a standing ovation .
Motwane, who returns to the big screen after his 2013 romantic drama Lootera, joked that this was his “first-ever housefull” and credited the film’s writer Amit Joshi for approaching him with the subject.
“I thought it was such a cool concept, why hasn’t anyone thought about it before, why hasn’t a film made on this topic, especially in a city like Mumbai?
“We have high rises and all, the place is warm but is also so cold. As people, we can be unforgiving about these kinds of things. The idea just grabbed me. I kept thinking about the film,” Motwane said.
The filmmaker then pitched the idea to Rao, who instantly agreed to do the film, which, Motwane said, also came out of anger, as he was doing other things which didn’t take off.
To prepare for his role, the actor survived on coffee and carrots.
“I was surviving on very little food. Probably coffee and carrot. But it was a great experience as an actor. This was something I always wanted to do. I am a big fan of survival dramas like Cast Away, Buried or 127 Hours.
“I was after [Motwane’s] life since Udaan. I wanted to play the main guy but he said ‘no, you look older’. Then for Lootera, he said ‘we will do something else’. Then finally he told me this is the plan and I kept calling him,” he said.
The film was shot in 22 days around Mumbai.
