Prateik plays migrant worker who walks back home during lockdown

MUMBAI: Prateik Babbar, who made his mark in the entertainment industry with his work in 'Dum Maaro Dum', 'Darbar' and 'Brahmastra', is all set for his upcoming film 'India Lockdown', directed by Madhur Bhandarkar. He talked about his role and what makes the film worth watching.

He is seen playing the role of Madhav, a migrant worker forced to walk back with his wife to his village because of the lockdown.

Speaking about his role, Prateik said: "My role is that of a migrant worker whose life comes to a standstill and he is stuck in a dilemma between whether he should try and survive in a city away from home or will it be wise to go back home and live within your means."

On the question of how he prepared for his character, the 'Baaghi 2' actor added: "We had a lot of prep going for this character. I met a few migrant workers and had heart-to-heart conversations with them. I was a keen observer of everything they shared and did. Right from their body language and how they lived their mundane life. All these day-to-day observations gave me insight into playing Madhav."

The actor said that another challenging task was learning the dialect and for perfection, he took coaching and watched movies.

"The dialect was different. It is Hindi but more like Bihari Hindi. The pronunciations were very different. We had a dialogue coach on set who helped us through every word, dialogue, and emotion. That was a little bit about the prep. I also watched reference films, 'Chakra', 'Aakrosh', 'Ankur', 'Do Bigha Zamin' which had characters similar to the migrants. Understanding their struggle and angst was a very important insight into preparing for Madhav."

'India Lockdown' is all about the effect of the pandemic and lockdown on common people. It highlights how many became jobless, the issue of migrant workers while going back to their native places, and sex workers deprived of their source of income.

When asked what made the film worth watching and how people will connect with it, he said: "Why shouldn't people watch 'India Lockdown'? It is an emotion we all share globally and is not just limited to our country. It is a universally shared emotion. It binds us together. 'India Lockdown' portrays feelings and emotions of angst, confusion, anxiety, and restlessness experienced by labourers and citizens across the globe."

"I think coping with the pandemic was not easy. It is a reminder of the times we all experienced darkness together and also came out together and found light. The human spirit was tested but we emerged stronger," he concluded.

Starring Shweta Basu Prasad, Prateik Babbar, Aahana Kumra, Sai Tamhankar, and Prakash Belawadi in lead roles, the film will stream on ZEE5 from December 2.