Ujjwal Nikam asked 'who is this Rajkummar?' when Rao was cast in Prahaar

Ujjwal Nikam had no idea who Rajkummar Rao was when director Avinash Arun picked the actor to play him in Prahaar: The Untold Story of Ujjwal Nikam. When Arun told him the news, the former public prosecutor had only one question: "Avinash ji, who is this Rajkummar?"

Arun then told him about the actor's career and his performances. Nikam later went to the set one day to watch the shoot, and meeting Rao in person won him over. "He's a real actor," Nikam said in a recent interview. He described Rao as simple and grounded, with no star tantrums, and told Arun he had picked the right man for the part.

The two did not spend time together before filming. Rao has said he prepared by watching videos of Nikam instead.

Before he handed his story to the makers, Nikam laid down conditions. "My first condition was that there should be no glorification of any character, including myself," he said in another interview. He also asked that everyone involved in the legal proceedings appear under their real names. He said the makers took no objection certificates from those people, including the judge, Madan Laxmandas Tahaliyani.

The courtroom drama covers Nikam's work as the prosecutor in the trial of Ajmal Kasab after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. Lalit Prabhakar plays Kasab, and Wamiqa Gabbi and Jaideep Ahlawat are also in the cast. The film opens in theatres on October 16.

For the National Award winner, Prahaar is one more role based on a real person, after Shahid, Aligarh, Omerta, Srikanth and the web series Bose: Dead/Alive. Next up is Dada, a biopic on cricketer Sourav Ganguly.