Mumbai, Dec 7 (IANS) Actor Kunal Kemmu is rewinding the clock back in time, and reminiscing about working in the National Award-winning film ‘Zakhm’.

The Bollywood multi-hyphenate recently spoke with IANS during the promotional campaign of his upcoming streaming series ‘Single Papa’, and recollected working on ‘Zakhm’, which was largely inspired by the life of Mahesh Bhatt, who helmed the film.

Walking down the memory lane, Kunal told IANS, “I think that was a very critical film in my career which made me solidify my belief in myself as an actor. Before that, I was, ‘a kid in a film’. So half the time, I was not sure. I used to think, ‘Are they just finding me just cute or do they really look beyond the cuteness’. And, ‘Are they laughing because I’ve been handed one-liners?’. If it was ‘Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke’, they were just liking me because I was an eight-year-old who’s saying those lines”.

He further mentioned, “But in ‘Zakhm’, it was for the first time that I thought that, ‘Okay, I’m getting respect out of this more than just, ‘Oh, he’s such a nice kid’. So for me, that was the most important thing. And the fondest memories of working with Bhatt sahab. I think he’s been an integral part of my acting career. And he’s been one of the most motivational people in my life and an encouraging person who also gave me a re-launch with a film like ‘Kalyug’”.

He shared that ‘Zakhm’ was important because it was Mahesh Bhatt’s last film as a director until years later he made ‘Sadak 2’. It was Pooja Bhatt’s last film as an actor then and his last film as a child actor.

“I was very happy to be a part of it. And I know that years before Mahesh Bhatt made that film, he had told me that he wanted to make this film. And he had said, ‘If you’re not in it, I won’t make it’. I thought he was just lying. And I remember it was my 10th standard. There was a point where I was not going to be able to do it. And I remember Mukesh Bhatt calling up my house and speaking to my dad and telling me that, ‘Bhatt sahab will not make the film if you’re not onboard. So please make sure that you can do the film because he wanted to make the film’. So I have a lot of respect and love for Bhatt sahab for that and for giving me a film like that. We’re still talking about it. I was 15 then. It is one of the most important films of my life”, he added.

–IANS

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