New Delhi: Actor Ali Fazal’s upcoming series Raakh is inspired by the Ranga-Billa case of the 1970s. He said that the national capital has not changed much since the two criminals kidnapped and murdered siblings Geeta and Sanjay Chopra.
According to him, Delhi has somehow managed to “preserve the problem over the years.”
“The geographical layout of the city has changed. And, even though Raakh is a period show, it’s still a very, very relevant mirror to our society and how we have managed to preserve that emotion even now as opposed to nipping it in the bud,” Fazal told ThePrint during a visit to the capital to promote Amazon Prime Video’s upcoming series Raakh.
Society’s mirror
For Fazal, the show’s themes resonate beyond its historical setting. “That suggests there’s something fundamentally wrong within the ethos of how we function as a society today,” he added.
In Raakh, directed by Prosit Roy, Fazal steps into the shoes of a police officer for the first time in his career. While portraying cop Jai Prakash Chaturvedi came with a sense of responsibility, the actor describes the experience as both challenging and enriching.
“It was interesting to understand the other side of the law and how things were really doled out during an investigation,” he said.
Fazal noted that the role offered a glimpse into the complexities of police work, where personal instincts and individual temperament can shape the course of an investigation.
“I think the important factor was how much of your own personality, as in the character’s personality, starts to come in the way or help that particular investigation,” the actor added.
Roy, along with his co-directors Anusha and Sandeep, was convinced that Fazal was the perfect fit for the role. They wanted an actor who had never played a character in uniform before.
“I had seen a fantastic short film of his in which he played a really complex and vulnerable character, and I immediately wanted to work with him. I was constantly looking for opportunities to cast him in something I was doing. When this project came along, I thought, ‘Let’s figure out a way to collaborate.’ We felt it would be really interesting to see that transformation,” Roy explained.
The filmmakers never envisioned Chaturvedi as the stereotypical larger-than-life police officer. They wanted a character who appeared ordinary on the outside but carried immense sensitivity within.
“When we met Ali, we realised there is this good-looking person who has always played the macho characters, whom you’re calling villains. He’s always played those characters. We wanted to break that image and completely bring him down, where he is so soft, so vulnerable, where he is fighting with himself and with the world at the same time,” Sandeep said.
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Fangs of a father
Fazal said that the most challenging aspect for him was not any particular scene, but rather the recurring moments in which his character, Chaturvedi, is forced to confront his own helplessness.
“The feeling of helplessness stays with you. Those kids (Geeta and Sanjay) didn’t know what was about to happen to him. But now we know, you know, and we are still feeling helpless about it despite knowing. So I think we are in a worse situation right now,” Fazal said.
In 2025, Fazal and actor Richa Chadha became parents to a baby girl. When asked how becoming a father had shaped his views on women’s safety and justice, he responded, “Now my fangs are out there. That’s how I see it.”
“As a parent, you want to prepare your little ones for everything,” he added.