Naseeruddin
Shah
ostensibly
played
a
terror
mastermind
in
Neeraj
Pandey's
A
Wednesday.
But
finally
it
turned
out
to
be
the
role
of
messiah
on
a
mission
to
'cleanse
the
society'.
Now,
Naseer's
arch-rival
Om
Puri
has
taken
on
the
role
of
an
unapologetic
hardcore
terrorist
in
Rensil
D'Silva's
Kurbaan.
Bollywood
characters
derived
from
headlines
specially
ones
that
are
taken
from
extremist
news
reports,
are
now
being
seen
as
tricky
territory.
In
Rensil
D'Silva's
hushed
and
much
talked-about
Kurbaan,
Om
Puri
plays
a
hardcore
terrorist
who
masterminds
a
massive
terror
attack
in
the
US.
Surely
a
politically-incorrect
role
for
an
actor,
if
ever
there
was
one.
In
fact,
Irrfan
Khan
had
said
no
to
play
a
global
terrorist
in
Kurbaan.
Playing
a
terrorist
automatically
puts
the
actor
in
the
suspicious
list
on
the
international
airports.
And
so
what
if
it's
just
a
part?
But
Om
is
fearless.
"I'm
aware
of
the
repercussions.
I'm
also
aware
others
actors
turn
down
parts
of
terrorists.
But
I've
no
such
reservations.
A
role
is
a
role.
We
cannot
be
moral
and
judgmental
about
the
characters
we
play.
In
Kurbaan
I
play
the
terror
mastermind,
a
fully
committed
jehaadi
who
is
ready
to
sacrifice
everything
including
his
wife
(Kirron
Kher)
for
the
cause."
It's
a
role
with
deep
reverberations.
But
Om
is
prepared
for
the
backlash.
"I
played
a
radical
mullah
mouthing
rabid
dialogues
in
Jagmohan
Mundhra's
Shoot
On
Sight.
It
was
just
a
role.
I
think
our
audiences
are
mature
enough
to
understand
this."
However
the
audiences'
level
of
maturity
seems
to
have
gone
for
a
toss.
Om
has
apparently
started
receiving
warnings
from
fundamentalist
organizations
about
playing
an
extremist.
Om
says
he
won't
be
deterred.
"I
played
a
Pakistani
in
Charlie
Wilson's
War
and
East
Is
East.
And
now,
in
October,
I
go
into
the
sequel
West
Is
West
with
the
same
cast.
This
time,
Vijay
Raaz
and
Ila
Arun
have
been
added.
Is
it
dangerous
to
experiment
with
morality
in
your
actors?
Let
it
be.
In
my
new
release
Baabarr,
I
played
a
corrupt
colourful
cop
who
doesn't
think
tweaking
the
law
is
a
big
deal.
It's
good
to
enter
the
hearts
and
minds
of
people
who
live
by
their
own
weird
morality."