Raghubir Yadav reveals he suffered a heart attack the night before filming Hunkkaar The Roar's intense courtroom scene

Director Karan Kapadia recalled that Raghubir Yadav had suffered a heart attack the night before they were scheduled to shoot the courtroom testimony scene.

Veteran actor Raghubir Yadav has revealed that he suffered a heart attack the night before shooting a key courtroom scene in Hunkkaar: The Roar. During a conversation with director Karan Kapadia, the actor looked back at the emotionally demanding sequence and spoke about getting into the skin of Baapji, a character who makes a startling confession. He also explained why the most powerful moments in a performance often come from within rather than from anything an actor consciously tries to create.

Raghubir Yadav reveals heart attack before Hunkkaar shoot, recalls filming an emotionally intense courtroom scene.

In a special scene breakdown, he and Karan discussed the making of the courtroom sequence, from the emotions driving the performances to the filming choices that helped bring the characters' pain to the screen.

Raghubir Yadav recalls suffering a heart attack before the shoot

Karan recalled that Raghubir had suffered a heart attack the night before they were scheduled to shoot the courtroom testimony scene. The actor spoke about the incident with a touch of humour, explaining how the emotions in the scene came to him naturally. As Baap ji confesses to his crime, he says, “And during that heart attack, I was actually feeling a strange sense of satisfaction.”

When Karan asked how he had found the right voice for the scene, Raghubir said he had not made any conscious effort to create it. The words and emotions came from within, shaped by what his character was going through. “I didn’t create it at all. It came out from within on its own. There was no need to create it,” he said. Asked if the character's grief had influenced his delivery, he replied, “Yes, because I had just come back after cremating my son’s body.”

Raghubir explained that he would have noticed if Baap ji were deliberately trying to manipulate the situation. “If it had been a calculated move, I would have been able to tell from his words that he was trying to manipulate the situation,” he said.

Karan Kapadia explains how he filmed the courtroom scene

Karan wanted the audience to see the impact of Meenu Rawat's testimony on everyone in the courtroom, particularly Baapji. He explained how he started with close-up shots of the character before gradually widening the frame to capture the reactions of those listening. “I always went in close to him for his emotion. I let him finish his emotion and then started pulling out further and wider, so that that emotion was extending on to everybody who is in the courtroom, from the lawyers to the police officer to the judge.”

The director revealed that he split the sequence into two parts. The first shows Meenu giving her testimony for the eleventh time, beginning with the words, “My name is Meenu Rawat.” While Baap ji's reaction was central to the scene, Karan also wanted to capture what was happening around him. “I wanted to capture everything about the father,” he said.

“Use the camera, use every trick in the craft. What can be done?” he said, explaining his approach to the sequence. “Move in towards her to feel her, to feel the emotion of every character around us. When she gives her testimony, it is more about the process, but then everything stops. The silence takes over.”

As Meenu recounts what happened to her when she was 17, Karan chose to keep the camera still and close to her face, allowing her words to carry the weight of the moment. “I was 17 years old. This should not have happened to me when I was 17. But it happened to me.” Explaining why he avoided unnecessary camera movement, the director said, “I was very mindful that I just wanted to shoot it classically, without any movement, right up in her face, and feel that emotion.”

The testimony that left the cast and crew shaken

The courtroom scene is particularly hard to watch as Meenu Rawat speaks about the fear she lives with and the toll the fight for justice has taken on her family. Her testimony struck a chord with both Raghubir Yadav and Karan Kapadia, who admitted that the scene continued to affect them long after filming wrapped.

Reflecting on the experience, Raghubir said, “At the very least, I have died 50 times while doing this, honestly.” Kapadia revealed that even after watching the sequence between 100 and 200 times during editing, he still found it difficult to sit through. “Sir, I have watched it at least 100 to 200 times during the editing process and throughout my life. Every time, it gets to me. Every single time. That is why I am saying this was much more painful for me. This moment, this space, this confession, the testimony she is delivering.”

The director admitted that watching the scene left him overwhelmed, no matter how many times he returned to it. “It feels like a man like that should simply die. I am telling you, I have died so many times while watching this entire scene,” he said, adding, “Every single time, the response is the same.” He went on to explain just how deeply the testimony affected him: “Yes, and the kind of words she says... At that very moment, you feel as though the earth should split open so you can disappear into it and die. What else can you do? And it is not as though I was living through it alone. That character was living through it too, and I was living through it alongside him.”

About Hunkkaar: The Roar

Hunkkaar: The Roar is a six-episode Hindi courtroom drama and socio-thriller centred on 17-year-old Meenu Rawat (Aneet Padda), who accuses a powerful spiritual leader, Sunil Chakosi, popularly known as Baap ji, of sexual assault. As she fights for justice, she faces the influence he wields over his followers and a system where faith, power and public perception threaten to overshadow the truth.

The cast includes Raghubir Yadav as Baap ji, Fatima Sana Shaikh as ACP Jasleen Singh Soin, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Arjun Mathur, Ram Kapoor, Zoya Hussain and Rajesh Sharma. Created by Karan D. Kapadia and Nitya Mehra, the series is directed by Kapadia, Mehra and Heeraz Marfatia, with Priyanka Chopra Jonas as executive producer. It premiered on JioHotstar on September 25, 2026.