Sonu Sood: Spoke to officials, ethical hackers

On Fateh, is on quadruple duty as actor, director, producer and writer. The demands of the roles don’t weigh him down as he is eager to take the thriller, which revolves around the rampant cybercrime in the country, to a wider audience and make them aware of the menace. As the film is now in post production, Sood remembers how the idea struck him after the pandemic, when many cybercrime victims approached him for help.

The actor shares, “Whether it was for medical or educational needs, a lot of people tried getting in touch with me. There were [frauds] who told them that clicking on a link would connect them to me. Next thing you know, the money would go out of their [accounts]. It’s sad as they come from financially challenged circumstances.

I remember once, a son based in Lucknow wanted an ambulance for his mother, and was told he would get one if he clicked on a link. He had only R6,000 and that was taken away. Someone connected him to me, and I arranged that ambulance for him.” ADVERTISEMENT After learning of several such instances, Sood began writing the story of Fateh based on real life cases.

It was aided by extensive research conducted by the film’s team. “It took me almost one and a half years of research to put that on paper. We spoke to the cybercrime officials, ethical hackers who work towards preventing such happenings. The whole team was aligned for the research. I would [and still do] get cases of cybercrime every day.

We’ve registered a lot of FIRs throughout India. Cybercrime today is a big issue, so I thought we should make a film on it.” In Fateh, also starring Sood plays a tech savvy agent who helps cybercrime victims. The actor producer says he wants to reach out to the country’s youth through the movie.

Tell him that the older generation is just as vulnerable to such crimes, and Sood explains, “The percentage of youth getting affected by cybercrime is higher as they are more phone friendly and technology savvy. Older people are more scared of technology. So, there are less cases of them getting cheated.”.