Vivaan Shah's independent streak is taking him to some interesting stories. The actor plays a ragpicker who makes a rare numismatic find in his next film, Kabaad: The Coin.
Directed by Varadraj Swami, the film revolves around a story rarely explored in Hindi cinema. Swami co-wrote Manjhi:The Mountain Man (2015) with Ketan Mehta.
To prepare for the film, Shah interacted with ragpickers over the span of the 90-day shoot to get into character.
Calling Shah a director's delight, Varadraj Swami said, "Acting runs in his blood. He comes from a family of brilliant actors. It is commendable that so early in his career he is eager to experiment with his roles and choose a character that explores his credentials as an actor. His ideology is rare and genius, just like his father."
Shah plays a ragpicker who comes across a rare Ram-Siya coin. The coin, minted during the reign of Mughal emperor Akbar the Great, is one of the rarest coins found in the world. Till date, only three known coins have survived into the modern world.
Speaking on the role, Shah said, "I love both realistic and slightly fantastic cinema. It was an immense challenge to play a character that was outside the realm of my experience and also from a different strata of society. I've played a working-class character about four times now, in 7 Khoon Maaf (2011), Bombay Velvet (2015), Laali Ki Shaadi Mein Laddoo Deewana (2017) and [the upcoming] Coat."
Kabaad will also feature Zoya Afroz, Abhishek Bajaj and Atul Srivastava, with music by Sandesh Shandilya.