Evil Personified: Govind Namdev plays Adolf Hitler in ‘Alien Frank’

By IANS

MUMBAI: Popular actor Govind Namdev opens up on the challenges of playing Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler in his next film ‘Alien Frank’.

He will be seen essaying Adolf Hitler in the Hindi film ‘Alien Frank’ which is a completely fresh take on the book ‘The Diary of a Young Girl’ by Anne Frank, the most discussed victim of the Jewish holocaust, that documented her life in hiding from 1942-1944, during World War II.

Sharing about what prompted him to take up the role, he says: “I have always been fond of such intense characters because it’s very challenging for any actor to play. Because Hitler is a very complex character with many contrasting characteristics as he was a painter, writer as well as romantic in nature.”

“So, what compelled such a sensible artistic man to kill so many people without any regrets is what drove me to delve deep into the character’s mind complexity. Hence, getting into the psychology of such challenging characters who are filled with extreme feelings really appeals to me. I feel every actor dreams of playing complex characters,” he adds.

The actor has done several movies such as ‘Wanted’, ‘OMG – Oh My God!’, ‘Bandit Queen’, ‘Sarfarosh’ and ‘Satya’ and many more.

“A boy from India gets an opportunity to read this diary after it goes viral and after reading many times he gets obsessed and develops feelings for Anne Frank in his imagination. He starts to hallucinate about the girl and develops hatred towards Hitler because he loves her. So he imagines Hitler and then it depicts his conversation with Adolf Hitler.”

About the challenges and preparation for the role he says: “I watched a lot of documentaries and photographs to understand his body language and learn it. He has his own distinctive way of walking, talking etc. which I practiced. The challenges you face when you play any historical character is that people are aware and have been learning about him for a long time.”

“So, when you don’t do justice to the portrayal of the character up to the mark, then the audience won’t appreciate it. When you completely get into the skin of the character, it leaves an impact on people.”

He also talks about such intense characters leaving a mark on your mind after the shot and how he juggles between different roles.

He shares: “When you portray such intense characters it does leave a mark on your mind for some time. I have developed my own way of coming out of such intense characters as I have also played such roles earlier. When I have to juggle an intense character to a different role of different genre, I take some rest and spend leisure time so I come out of that zone and again start getting into the skin of another character. That’s how I prepare myself.”

The film is produced by Nitesh Kumar, written by Rajesh Prasad, and directed by Amar Singh. It is a distinctive, unconventional film to be presented in film festivals all around the world.