IC-814 The Kandahar Hijack actor Rajiv Thakur says ‘I had no time to prep for my role’
Actor Rajiv Thakur talks about his turn as the antagonist in the show IC-814: The Kandahar Hijack.
Actor-comedian Rajiv Thakur left viewers surprised with his recent role of the antagonist, named Chief, in filmmaker Anubhav Sinha’s IC-814: The Kandahar Hijack. While the web series gave him a chance to break out of his image as a comic, the raging controversy might just overshadow it all.
The series has been hit with allegations of distortion of facts about the real identities of the hijackers and has drawn criticism for naming the two terrorists Bhola and Shankar, instead of using their real names, while the other three are referred to as Chief, Doctor and Burger.
Also read: After uproar, Netflix to add disclaimer on real, code names in IC 814
Thakur admits that he didn’t get much time to prepare for his role and doesn’t “have much knowledge about the controversy”: “It was such a big show and I should have done some prep. When I met the other actors who played the hijackers, they had read books. I am thankful that Anubhav Sinha sir, the associate director and the writers explained my character to me. In the series, I was only associated with Vijay Varma (actor) and (the character) Doctor.”
Thakur, 40, who played the mastermind behind the 1999 hijacking, is certain that his work will be noticed: “When someone does good work, it can’t be buried. I’ve got such good reactions for my role. My friends and Insta followers are sending me messages. Some said I was unrecognisable.”