'Sameer' is not about terrorism but idea of terrorism: Subrat Dutta

Actor Subrat Dutta, who is gearing up for the commercial release of "Sameer", says that the film is not about terrorism but the idea of terrorism and what we can do about it.

"It is a fictional story, inspired by a series of 21 blasts that happened in Ahmedabad on July 26, 2008, where more than 56 people died and over 200 people were injured. It is a political thriller on recent political scenarios. It is not about terrorism, it's about the idea of terrorism and what we can do about it.

"Where did it start and why has it increased to such an extent in today's date. In 2017 where the world has developed so much, why is terrorism still proving to be a problem for us?" he said on Tuesday.

Playing an Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) officer is not an easy task, and Subrat, asked what were his references to play such a character, said meeting an ATS officer in Ahmedabad and an old co-actor's ATS husband helped him prepare for the role.

On the way he portrayed his character while filming, he said: "On a subconscious level, I was inspired by them (real ATS officers) while doing this role. The character is not very glamorous; it's like a normal simple man whose job is to encounter people.

"How he deals with all the problems on the field, how he struggles to gather information, how he manages to work under pressure, that's the character is all about. I have managed to incorporate everything into the character to create Mr Desai (his character name) on screen."

Nana Patekar has also played the role of "encounter specialist" in films like "Ab Tak Chhappan" and asked if he thinks there is a comparison between both the characters, Subrat said: "There is a similarity about their situations, there is lot of pressure to carry out their jobs, the difference is that in this film the officers already have the information about the blasts beforehand and their job is to stop the blasts from happening. So Desai is working in much more pressure, as he is in position to stop the blasts from happening."

Subrat has won Best Actor Award for Hindi film "Madholal-keep Walking" in International Competition Category at the 33rd Cairo International Film Festival in 2009 and for his Bengali film "BIBAR" (Calcutta, Unabashed) in International Competition Category, OsianCinefan in New Delhi in 2006.

"Sameer" also stars Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Anjali Patil, Chinmay Mandlekar, Seema Biswas, Manoj Shah, Alok Gagdeka, and Master Shubham Bajrange. Directed by Dakxin Bajrange Chhara, the film will release on September 8.