Manu Rishi Chadha takes on the role of General Pervez Musharraf in ‘Operation Safed Sagar’. Musharraf would later rise to become Pakistan’s President. His character is portrayed as the man behind the aggression that sparked the 1999 Kargil War. According to Chadha, playing this role has brought him a mixed bag of reactions; some viewers love it, others despise it.
Manu Rishi Chadha on the mixed reactions
In an interview with, Hindustan Times, “Social media and my message box is filled with DMs. Someone wrote that he wants to slap me for the act and hug me for my work. I was like… please don’t slap as if others too feel the same it will be too much (laughs). I feel that the hate is also love which means the work was appreciated.”Chadha admits he knew right from the outset that this wasn’t a role that would win him any love. “There is one common message I am getting: Manu bhai jitni nafrat thi (Musharraf) woh double ho gaya par aapse pyar ho gaya! I want ki woh nafrat bahi rahe.” Slipping into Musharraf’s character wasn’t an easy task either, and he deliberately avoided relying too much on real footage of the man. “I just saw 1-2 videos but then I decided not to, otherwise it will become caricaturish. Initially, my first question was how do I look like him? Also, hero ki duniye mein villain banna and that too a real person was a challenge. But, my director Oni Sen and creators Abhijeet Parmar and Kushal Srivastava were confident.”
Manu Rishi Chadha’s advice from Nawazuddin Siddiqui
Talking about how he approached the role, he says, “I was wondering how to prepare and I got a message from Nawaz(uddin Siddiqui, actor) that let’s meet for lunch. I asked him how he played (Saadat Hasan) Manto in the film and he was like there was no reference of him except his photo and work so created and worked on his human side – right or wrong! So, I decided that I will just follow my director and creators’ vision.”While the team focused on nailing his physical appearance, they left the persona entirely up to him. “Kahin mimick na ho jaye – yeh dar bhi rakha aur jimmedari bhi rakhi! As Indian, I can hate him but as actor I can’t! My process was that after wearing uniform I will become true to it and Pakistan. I started believing that I am Musharraf who is very loyal and honest to his country, his extreme hatred (for India) and his (Kashmir) mission. My nervous energy helped me focus.”
Manu Rishi Chadha stayed in character on set
While shooting, he deliberately kept his distance from conversations and social interactions in order to stay in character. “I used to switch off when I used to see Indian wadiyan and meet amazing people. Naseer(uddin Shah) bhai always used to talk about switching on and off but for the first time in my career I actually learnt this,” he says and adds, “People know me for improvising on my characters but I did not do it at all in this project.”