Raj Kundra: I survived on biscuits in prison

Businessman Raj Kundrais soon going to make his debut as an actor with UT69, which is based on his own journey while he was locked up in Arthur Road jail, after being arrested for alleged production and distribution of porn films through apps. Post his release on bail, the businessman stayed away from the media for the longest time, only to come back with a film portraying his version of the happenings.

He talks to ETimes about the ordeal he went through...

What made you act in your own biopic?

I needed closure somewhere, there was something inside me that was bugging me. I wanted the world to see what I went through. Somewhere, I want people to see that there are lives which don't require to go through what they went through. The film is a story of emotions, bonding, the conditions they (inmates) lived in, the food they had etc. I was thinking of turning my notes into a memoir, which is when

Shahnawaz Ali

( director) told me not to. He mentioned that it has legs to stand on, we can make a movie on it. I found the idea interesting and planned to act on it.

Was it similar to reliving your days in jail while you were shooting?
Very!!! I had goosebumps the first day I walked onto the sets, I felt like I was back in jail. I had even made Shahnawaz speak to one of the inmates who had been released, so that he could get both sides of the story of how jail was…. But the entire setting helped a lot in emoting the real ordeal, there were a lot of scenes where I wasn’t told that I had to cry, but I would remember the actual moment and tears would start rolling down. That was the easier part, the hard part was when the director would say I want the same shot from another angle and ask me to repeat the same emotion.
Are you in touch with any of your inmates?
There were a few of them who had secured their bail but they didn’t know where to go and pay their bail amount. So when I was stepping out, they approached me, so I took down their details and hired a lawyer and we got about 7-8 of them out by now. So yes, I’m in touch with a couple of them.
Do you think our prisons need reform?
100% - there is less space and crime is rising and the city is growing, but everyone is being thrown in just 1-2 jails. And in a capacity of 800 inmates, 3000 are put up. The barrack that I was in was called 6/4, it was for 50 people but there were 250 of us staying there. At night, when you slept, you couldn’t see the floor, so when you had to go to the washroom which was at the far end of the room, you literally had to step on people. And there is no luxury of sleeping on your back, you are sleeping on your side and when new people come in, they sleep on top of you. I’m sorry for people who are stuck there.
There’s a scene in the trailer where you show the roti being soaked in dal…
That was the only way you could eat that roti, I was surviving on biscuits and water. There’s a provision store there, and I bought biscuits. I lost 17 kilos in two months there.
Also a lot of people just didn’t believe you are married to Shilpa Shetty..
Ya, I got that a lot because I was in this 6/4 barrack and all other celebrities were put up in some other barrack, so I was like a monkey in the zoo. Everyone wanted to see who I was.