Bokaro boy to star in Bhatt's play

Imran Zahid

Bokaro actor Imran Zahid is all set to essay the lead in Mahesh Bhatt’s second theatrical experiment, Trial of Error, as the noted filmmaker plumbs the wounded psyche of members of minority communities who are tarred with the same brush.

Zahid also played the protagonist in Bhatt’s successful maiden theatre venture, The Last Salute — based on the infamous incident on December 14, 2008, when Cairo-based TV correspondent Muntadar Al-Zaidi hurled a shoe at then US president George W. Bush during a newsmeet in Baghdad.

Trial of Error explores the life of a journalist who in on the lookout for truth behind what is happening with the minority community in India.

During the course of his investigation, he falls into a trap laid by the police and is embroiled in a vicious circle where the system puts him down in every single stride. The play captures his struggle to prove his innocence against the system that ultimately labels him a terrorist.

“I play the role of a journalist, Rehan, who is investigating atrocities against a particular community. I have myself survived the communal riots and their aftermath in Bokaro in 1990 and 1991. I have lived through the all-pervasive insecurity that had gripped us and our families in Bokaro,” Zahid told The Telegraph over phone from New Delhi.

Trial of Error looks at the harassment faced by youths from a particular community in the country whenever an act of terror takes place, Zahid added.

Besides Zahid, Bhatt will again team up with Sandeep Kapoor of Promodome Films who produced The Last Salute.

Waryam Mast, a leading theatre personality and three-time National Award winning playwright, will direct Trial of Error.

Rajesh Kumar, who also wrote The Last Salute, will pen the play.

It is likely to be staged at Shriram Centre (Mandi House) in Delhi on March 29 and later in Lucknow, Mumbai, Calcutta, Chandigarh, Patna, Aligarh, Srinagar, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Jammu, Pune and Dubai.

For theatre lovers in Jharkhand, expect a performance in Ranchi.