Whenever they went to check for bombs, first he would go in the place or the vehicle himself, check for booby traps and then call his other members to diffuse it. So I had to enact such death defying acts in camera which he had done for real. Hats off to him," says this gutsy actor who had just recently played the Indian don Naidu in Risk.
According to Zakir 'Black Friday' is not a realistic film, but it is almost real film. "I had the officers from Nand Kumar's team in 1993 squad playing themselves in the film. Anurag took us to actual locations and shot where the bombs didn't go off. Kapada Market in Dadar, Ghodbandur and other places.
It was so good to be part of a social and real film. You feel so humbled at the end of it all, because so many times a character connects with the real person on mental and emotional level and experiences the true intensity of their dedication."
Zakir's next film is Tamil film 'Lee' where he is playing the main villain. "That is another true to life character which is inspired from a real life character. It's more challenging then a pure fictional character because you can not improvise on the getup or body language. You need to adopt what is there to the best of your abilities."