When you are young, you tend to be misguided, says Prateik

Bollywood actor Prateik Babbar, who is playing the character of a terrorist in the upcoming multi-starrer film Mulk, says youngsters tend to get brainwashed and misguided easily and as he is growing mature, he is becoming wiser and a better creative person by heart.Asked if he has taken some reference from his own life to play the character of Shahid, a young Muslim boy, Prateik said: “I went through an internal process to build the character in my head before performing it and yes, I took some reference from my own life.“The character Shahid is a misguided youth, like I was, for the different reason. The fact is, when you are young, if you are mingling with wrong people, you tend to be misguided. You tend to be brainwashed easily.”The actor who went through a solid preparation to get the insight of the world of budding terrorists and how they get trained, also added: “It is unfortunate that they do not understand that they are committing a crime by killing people. Mulk features some iconic actors like Rishi Kapoor, Ashutosh Rana, Neena Gupta, Manoj Pawa, Kumud Mishra among others, and according to Prateik, it was quite intimidating to perform with a star cast like that.“It was so intimidating and nerve-racking! I mean they are working for years, their performance level is so high that I was on my toes all the time just to do, at least my level of best performance. Otherwise, I would look so out of place used to irritate Anubhav sir for his feedback,” said the son of the iconic actress Smita Patil.Starting his career with the film Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na, Prateik received a lot of appreciation for his acting skill at the beginning of his journey. However, he went through a rehab treatment as he was battling substance abuse.In 2015 he made his feature film comeback with Umrika that received positive response in Sundance Film Festival.Asked about if he identifies with the Prateik he was at the beginning of his career, he said: “Well, I have transformed, but I sure can identify with that young lad. I think I have grown as a better actor, I have learnt more about people and professionalism. I have learnt to respect others opinion more.”Mulk is releasing on August 3. – IANSWhen Rishi felt uncomfortable on set of MulkDirector Anubhav Sinha says there was a time when veteran actor Rishi Kapoor felt “very uncomfortable” while shooting for their forthcoming film Mulk.“Rishi Kapoor did a commendable job with getting used to the six camera set-up which he has never experimented with previously. It took him a day to get used to it since he is used to focusing on a single camera set-up on most of his films,” Sinha said in a statement.“I wanted a candid feel for the courtroom scenes hence, I decided we will shoot with six cameras and shoot long takes. This did make Rishiji very uncomfortable as he is used to performing for a single camera or two. But this discomfort dramatically disappeared within a day and then he was volleying to all the six effortlessly like he had never shot with a single camera before,” he added.Presented by Kamal Mukut and Soham Rockstar Entertainment, a Benaras Media Works production, the courtroom drama is produced by Deepak Mukut and Sinha, who has also directed it. – IANSBharat director to announce leading lady soonFilmmaker Ali Abbas Zafar announced he will announce the leading lady for his upcoming directorial Bharat soon.“Yes yes yes... We will announce the leading lady of Bharat soon. We have been shooting non-stop and simultaneously preparing for international schedules,” Zafar tweeted recently.The filmmaker announced that actress Priyanka Chopra has opted out of the Salman Khan starrer for a “very special” reason.The first schedule included shooting for a grand circus sequence.The director previously worked with the Dabangg star in blockbusters like Sultan and Tiger Zinda Hai.The film is an official adaptation of a 2014 South Korean film Ode To My Father. It is produced by Atul Agnihotri’s Reel Life Production Pvt Ltd and Bhushan Kumar’s T-Series.Bharat, which will be shot across locations in Abu Dhabi and Spain, besides Punjab and Delhi, is slated for an Eid release in 2019. – IANSWould like to make biopic on Hima Das, says AkshayActor-producer Akshay Kumar, who is busy promoting his forthcoming sports-drama film Gold, says he would like to make biopic on life of Indian sprinter Hima Das who became the first Indian athlete to win a gold in a track event at just 18 year of age.Interacting with media at an event organised by Edelweiss group recently to support and wish India contingent for Asian Games 2018, Akshay, asked on which Indian sports personality he would like to make a biopic as a producer, said: “I would like to make biopic on Hima Das because she is a track runner.“I think it was very rare feat to achieve because somebody who comes from interiors of India and wins gold medal in track (running) event was really incredible.”“India has been little bit weak when it comes to perform in track events and I feel we should encourage and support that form of sports to show the world that we have great talent when it comes to running as we daily run so fast to catch a bus or a train... so, I would love to make biopic on her life,” he added.Akshay, to a query whether he feels that films can generate importance of sports in the minds of the audience and help India to become a better sports nation, said: “I really liked story of Gold which is due for its release. I thought that this story needs to be told.“It is very interesting and real story. There are some glorious achievements achieved by our people, by our country but it’s not in public domain.“Before doing this film, I didn’t know that we won our first Olympic gold medal in 1948. Most of us don’t know when, how, where and in which circumstances we were able to win that gold medal by defeating, on their own turf, England who ruled us for 200 years... so, this kind of things cinema can represent all this in very nice way.“If we make a documentary on this incident then one might watch it instead of that if we incorporate 4-5 songs, 1-2 fight sequence, hero and heroine in it then, it looks entertaining.”A historical sports drama inspired by India’s first Olympic gold medal, Gold traces the “golden era” of Indian hockey through the journey of Tapan Das, a young assistant manager in 1936, who dreams of playing for an independent nation.The film features Akshay Kumar, Amit Sadh, Kunal Kapoor, Sunny Kaushal, Vineet Kumar Singh and Mouni Roy in lead roles.Directed by Reema Kagti and produced by Excel Entertainment, it releases on August 15. – IANS