Vikramaditya Motwane on Black Warrant: 'Like his character, Zahan Kapoor was also applying for his job'

Vikramaditya Motwane takes viewers inside Tihar Jail with his latest Netflix series, Black Warrant.

Vikramaditya Motwane; Zahan Kapoor in Black Warrant

Every outing reveals Vikramaditya Motwane's constant quest to broaden his horizons. The filmmaker takes viewers inside the Tihar Jail to chronicle the story of an unexpected jailer in yesterday's Netflix release, Black Warrant. As a screen version of the book Black Warrant: Confessions of a Tihar Jailer written by Sunetra Choudhury and Sunil Gupta and starring Zahan Kapoor, Motwane offers this prison drama to fans of the genre.

Inspiration behind Black Warrant

In an interview with Mid Day, the filmmaker stated that if one wants to know something about something they don't know anything about, read this fascinating book. Given that no one had previously considered it from the perspective of a jailer, it was truly fascinating. Everything they know about prisons comes from films. Sunil Gupta's stories captivate readers with the extraordinary circumstances he encounters. The wonderful character arc is what made it, in Motwane's opinion, a drama in the making.

ALSO READ: Black Warrant Review: Vikramaditya Motwane said, ‘Coming of age but make it brutal’ and a stellar Zahan Kapoor obliged

The adaptation of a 200-page novel covering 35 years of story is, however, no straightforward task. At first, the filmmaker thought of copying the book word for word. Making a limited series was their original plan, but they quickly saw it would become too episodic. To that end, they considered starting from the ground up with Sunil's story and revealing various elements, such as his family dynamics, his daily life behind bars, and his reasons for accepting the job. He is involved in the story, not just watching it unfold. It was difficult to decide how to give this character more depth. They uncovered information not included in the book through extensive discussions with Mr. Gupta.

Casting Zahan Kapoor as the protagonist

Motwane wasted no time identifying his main man, Zahan Kapoor, the grandson of Shashi Kapoor. The filmmaker was unaware that Zahan Kapoor was auditioning. He thought Zahan was fantastic the second he laid eyes on him. The actor's eyes betrayed his nervousness within the first five seconds of the audition. The pilot episode included his character going on a job interview, which served as his audition. Like his character, Zahan was also applying for a job, so in a way, it was fitting. The actor possesses a deep understanding of drama and character development. Motwane's conversations with him tended to revolve around character arcs rather than performing. They would gather to talk about the missing beats after each table read.

The series also includes Sidhant Gupta, Anurag Thakur, Rahul Bhat, and Paramvir Cheema.

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