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"I will play the role of Munthadir al-Zaidi in the film produced by Pooja Bhatt. The movie will be made in Arabic and English with English subtitles. I will play the lead in Indian version and it will be shot entirely in Lebanon," Imran Zahid told PTI in an interview.
Zahid, who portrayed the role of Munthadir al-Zaidi, a journalist from Iraq who shot into international fame for throwing his shoes at former US President George Bush during a press conference in 2008 had recently played the lead in the play "The Last Salute" also based on Zaidi`s book of the same name.
Mahesh Bhatt is collaborating with Munthadir al-Zaidi for the screenplay for the film which is set to be directed by a director from the Middle-East.
Zahid says he landed his debut Bollywood role in Bhatt`s upcoming "Chandu" after a chance meeting with the ace director Mahesh Bhatt in Dubai.
The film is based on the real-life film on Chandrashekhar, a student leader of Jawaharlal Nehru University who was killed during election campaigns in Siwan, Bihar.
"My first movie is a biopic of Chandrshekhar who was a great student leader and rose against injustice. My second movie is based on Munthadir al-Zaidi who spoke against the injustice done in his country. I relate to both these persons as they had anger against injustice, I can relate to that anger," says Zahid.
"We wanted to go Iraq and shoot a documentary there on Zaidi but the Iraqi government denied us a visa," says Zahid.
All seriousness aside, Zahid says he is just a regular guy who likes to hang out with friends and enjoys going to the movies. "I have been portrayed as a very serious person by the media, which is not the case. I am a fun loving guy."
The actor doesn`t want to be typecast in the "angry young man" role. "I don`t want to be typecast in any genre.
People think that I only do serious stuff, but am open to all kinds of roles as long as they satisfy my creative need," he says.
"Whether you belong to a small town or big, it doesn`t matter, what matters is the size of your dream," says Zahid for whom the journey from small city Bokaro in Jharkhand to Delhi University and now to Bollywood has been like a roller coaster.
"I always wanted to work on my own terms. After graduating I opened my own media school because I didn`t want to do a job. Now Bhatt sahib offered me the film and I liked it, so am doing it. I respect him a lot, he has taught me to always be grounded."
