‘There was nothing to investigate’: Amit Sial on his chilling portrayal in ‘The Hunt’ on the Rajiv Gandhi case | Exclusive

What happens when an actor known for his intense, nuanced performances steps into the shoes of a real-life investigator tasked with solving one of India’s most shocking political assassinations?

In an exclusive chat with Mathrubhumi English, actor Amit Sial — acclaimed for his roles in ‘Maharani’ and ‘Jamtara’ — opened up about his upcoming SonyLIV series ‘The Hunt: The Rajiv Gandhi Assassination Case’.

Amit talked about portraying CBI officer DR Kaarthikeyan, who led the Special Investigation Team probing former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination, under the direction of Nagesh Kukunoor, navigating the weight of real events, and how one chilling scene at the recreated crime site left him shaken — offering a glimpse into the enormous pressure the real-life SIT must have faced.

Read our conversation:

Q. You play the lead investigator in a politically volatile case. How did you land the role?

I landed this role because of the good wishes of Sameer Nair from Applause Entertainment. I’m really grateful that Nagesh Kukunoor accepted me to play DR Kaarthikeyan.

It was absolutely delightful to work for him and with him, and the rest of the team. We had a brilliant set of actors and a brilliant team on this show.

Q. How was your experience of working with Nagesh Kukunoor, and how was the actor-director relationship on the set?

I  have been a huge fan of Nagesh Bhai since I watched ‘Iqbal’. Obviously, I have been a fan of Naseer Bhai (Naseeruddin Shah) also, and I got to work with him on several occasions.

But when I watched the film (‘Iqbal’), I said to myself that I have to work with this director. I think I have been messaging him also on and off. I’m not very good at marketing myself, so I would text once or twice, and then feel, Why should I bother somebody?

When I eventually met him, I remember we had a little meeting at a restaurant in Lokhandwala in Mumbai, and I told him that if I got this opportunity, it would be a dream come true, because I have been pursuing you for a very long time.

I’m grateful that I am in this series, and it’s an important show — one of its own kind — because it is based on a book, and it’s based on one of those unfortunate events which will always be in the political history of our country.

I hope I have lived up to Nagesh Bhai’s expectations.

Q. Nagesh Kukunoor recently told us that you’re one of the few actors—after Naseeruddin Shah—who’s truly impressed him. What is it like to hear him putting you in that league?

He genuinely really liked what I did in the show. I’m so thankful to him for saying that about me. I’m nobody to be compared to Naseeruddin Shah, but thank you, Nagesh Bhai! Let’s work again — I would love to work with him again.

He is such a sweet, understanding, and patient person who is very immaculate, very detail-oriented, and without any unnecessary sensationalism. It was an absolute delight to work with him.

Q. Your performance in 'The Hunt' is all about restraint. How did you manage to bring such calm and control to the character?

I didn’t have too much time on hand from the time I was offered the series to the time it was going on the floors to search for the investigation, a lot. But I did my research and looked up Dr. Kaarthikeyan’s life a lot. I read and watched a lot about him through his interviews online, and what I gathered out of that is that here is a man who has been given this humongous task.

In those days, there was no technology at all to investigate a case which is of the utmost importance in our political history, just because of how brutally Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated.

There is a beautiful interview of Kaarthikeyan where he is talking about what he has achieved, done, and gone through. The ease with which he was enlightening us as the audience watching his interview gave me a lot of insight into the kind of person he must be. He was very calm, composed, very sharp with his words, and he knew exactly what to say and what not to say.

He had this beautiful ability of being in the police force yet speaking like a diplomat. As you rightly said — which probably comes across in my performance also — because of what I saw in him, that he was restrained. He was not telling a story. He was just stating facts and how he went to investigate those facts.

I think the people so high up in their chairs and who are given this kind of responsibility have to be a certain way. They can’t get hassled and affected by things. They have to be with it, they have to be very calculative, and they can’t loiter about in their head and get jingoistic, aggressive, or non-aggressive. I think they always remain in a constant.

What I gathered from his interviews that I watched were these traits about him. I tried to put that across in my performance also, and I think that is why you think it’s a restraint — yet you feel the turmoil inside his persona.

Q. While researching the investigation or D.R. Kaarthikeyan’s life, were there any moments or revelations that shifted your perspective on the case?

I shouldn’t say too much about this because then why would you go and watch the show?

I was relatively quite aware of the case because it happened when I was 16 years old, and I clearly remember when that assassination happened. Then obviously, in the following years — because it was a point of interest to know what happened — I kept reading about it here and there. Slowly and steadily, you sort of put the pieces together yourself.

There were a lot of talks about — and I think this is there in the trailer also — whether the opposition did it… so everyone was in the darkness. To be able to extract the truth from that kind of darkness, especially when there was no technological help in those times, and investigations were very labor-intensive.

So, there are certain things that are there in the show, but let’s not point them out right now; else it’ll spoil the fun for the audience. So, ya, it was a shocker — but let the audience watch and dissect.

Q.Over the years, you've built a reputation for delivering subtle yet deeply intense performances. How do you think The Hunt adds to or shifts that trajectory? Do you see it opening doors to more such layered roles, or perhaps changing how you're seen as an actor?

‘The Hunt’, for me personally, as an actor, was a challenge because it is based on true events, and one has to be very careful and absolutely honest about how to portray the character of Dr. Kaarthikeyan, because he is a real person who investigated this real incident.

There was so much more to explore (with ‘The Hunt’) as compared to the other works that I have done, because this is the first time I’m actually playing a real person. It sort of brings along with it a lot of responsibilities. I think just to be able to experience that responsibility and try and become that person was very exhilarating.

It was a very unusual experience, let me put it this way, as compared to the other things I have done, in which you can take leeway or do other things. Maybe this is also one of the reasons why it (the performance) comes across as very restrained, because I can’t do my thing; I’m playing somebody else.

It was a very exhilarating and enriching experience, I would say.

Q. It’s a stellar cast that’s come together for ‘The Hunt’. What was the camaraderie like off-camera between all of you?

Amazing! I had an amazing time with the co-actors. We would just chill together. We actually became a team because we were a team in the series. We actually, off-camera and off the set, became a team. We were always hanging around each other, and maybe a little drink here and there. It was very nice.

In reality also, the investigative team was from all corners of the country. So, I made friends with a North Indian, I made friends with a South Indian, and I made friends with people of very varied spheres of life. It was amazing hanging out with them.

Off the set, we also used to hang out and go for dinners together a couple of times. It was a very nice experience.

Q. Now that you look back at ‘The Hunt’, is there a particular moment from the series that really stayed with you? Maybe even a behind-the-scenes memory that’s especially close to your heart?

There is a scene in the series where the team goes to visit the site of the assassination. It was nothing there. I mean, the way the production design had happened, there was a huge patch of blood and some personal belongings shown here and there.

And that is one thing that I would like to point out about this show — that kuch tha hi nahi in logo ke pass investigate karne ke liye. Kahi se kuch photo mil gayi, kisi ka kuch kapde ka piece mil gaya... us tareeke se un logo ne investigate kiya kyunki technology toh kuch thi hi nahi, koi CCTV nahi… (These people did not have anything to investigate. They got some photos from somewhere, found a piece of someone’s clothing... that’s how they investigated because they had no technology, no CCTV…)

There was this huge dried patch of blood, and I looked at it, and it did something to me. I asked Nagesh Bhai, and I said, “This is it? This is how they came to the site and found this only to investigate?” What investigation can you possibly do out of this?

I think thode baad mein unko kuch toh body part kahin toh par mile the. But us time toh unko kuch samajh hi nahi aaya ki kiska kya hai. Kuch pata hi nahi chala unko. (I think later they found some body parts somewhere. But at that time, they didn’t understand what was what. They didn’t know anything.)

It was just that patch of blood, and it was quite a surreal moment, I would say. It also gave me a lot of importance about the show I was doing and an insight into Kaarthikeyan’s head and soul, as to how will I investigate this case when there is nothing that I have to investigate it.

Q. What’s next for Amit Sial? Any upcoming roles or projects you're excited about?

I have almost finished one film; fortunately, it’s a comedy, and not intense. Mai thoda comedy karne ki taraf ja raha hu. Mujhe ek love story bhi karne ka man hai. Do-theen cheeze hai pipeline mai (I am moving towards doing some comedy. I also want to do a love story. There are two to three things in the pipeline), but I don’t think I have the liberty to talk about them right now. This year, most probably, ‘The Hunt’ is the only work that will be released. The rest of it will come next year.