Imagine
a
Delhi
boy
who
in
his
own
words
has
lived
a
'chilled
out'
life
with
chilled
out
parents,
suddenly
at
the
age
of
21
being
told
to
play
an
isolated
angst-ridden
son
of
a
tyrannical
father
in
a
claustrophobic
town
of
Bihar.
The
story
so
far
is
that
21-year
old
Rajat
Barmecha
has
given
a
career-making
performance
in
Vikramaditya
Motwane"s
Udaan.
But
here"s
the
untold
story
of
how
the
first-time
actor
was
made
to
get
into
his
character"s
space
of
isolation
by
being
taken
to
Jameshpur
to
shoot
and
kept
away
from
all
the
accessorized
luxuries
of
metropolitan
life.
Says
Rajat,
“I
was
not
allowed
to
meet
anyone.
I
was
made
to
spend
hours
alone
in
my
room
to
feel
how
my
character
Rohan
felt.
I
wasn"t
allowed
a
television
in
my
room".
The
worst
blow
for
the
citified
boy
was
that
his
cellphone
was
confiscated.
“I
wasn"t
allowed
to
use
my
phone.
That
was
the
the
hardest
part
of
being
alone
in
Jamshedpur.
I
can"t
live
without
my
phone.
Or
so
I
thought.
I
wasn"t
allowed
to
talk
to
anyone,
not
even
to
my
parents
back
home".
The
director
also
made
Rajat
watch
the
films
that
he
felt
would
give
him
a
better
insight
into
his
character"s
estranged
mind.
“Vikram
made
me
watch
Francois
Truffaut"s
400
Blows,
Curtis
Hanson"s
8
Miles,
and
Stephen
Daldry"s
Billy
Elliot.
I
watched
as
many
films
as
I
was
asked
to".
The
youngster
admits
method
acting
in
his
debut
film
was
tough
on
him.
“But
it
was
worth
it.
All
the
isolation
helped
me
enter
my
charater"s
mindscape,
which
I
wouldn"t
have
understood
otherwise.
Rohan"s
background
is
so
different
from
mine.
Rohan"s
father
is
a
disciplinarian.
My
dad
is
the
most
chilled-out
guy
I
know.
Rohan
is
packed
off
to
boarding
school.
I"ve
never
been
to
boarding
school.
He
has
a
stepbrother.
I"ve
two
siblings,
a
brother
and
sister
both
older
than
me."
In
fact,
Rajat"s
sister
Ritu
and
brother
Vicky
have
both
shifted
to
Mumbai
to
stay
with
him.
All
three
are
now
pursuing
a
career
in
films.
Rajat,
of
course,
has
a
headstart.
He
is
already
the
star
of
his
family.
“To
have
gone
to
Cannes
and
walked
the
red
carpet
with
my
very
first
film
was
a
great
honor.
I
met
so
many
people
there
and
a
number
of
Hollywood
directors.
But
I
can"t
remember
their
names.
They
all
liked
me.
Now,
of
course,
comes
the
real
test.
Let"s
see
how
people
here
like
Udaan.
On
that
will
depend
my
future
in
Hindi
films."