When Adil Hussain was a child, he had a friend: Noor Mohammed, whom he fondly refers to as ‘Bhai’. Back in those days, he spent time with Bhai, who worked as a rickshaw puller. “I still remember how he smelled when he returned after a day of pulling heavy loads. His hands would be rough,” he says.

Years later, these memories helped Adil prepare for the role of Buchi Paswan, a rickshaw puller in Pareeksha - The Final Test. Directed by Prakash Jha, the movie is about the journey of a father who, despite his financial restrictions, decides to take out his son from a Government-run school and enroll him in a private institution.

“Buchi drops a few children to the city’s best school every day. He cannot help but wish that his son gets to study at a private educational institute. The movie is about Buchi’s struggle and the extent to which he goes to ensure that his son studies in a good school,” says Adil, over phone from Delhi.

Speaking about his days in Ranchi, where the film was shot, Adil says that he spent considerable time at the railway station observing rickshaw pullers to get a deeper understanding of their mannerisms. “They have a certain way in which they sit and pull the rickshaw, and I wanted to learn it so that I am convincing on screen. The hardest part was actually pulling the rickshaw, which takes an unbelievable amount of energy,” says the actor.

In an Instagram post, Adil says that Pareeksha is one of his ‘most favourite films’. “Education is a subject that I am very sensitive about. My parents did not have the money to enrol me in a private institute. I studied in a State-sponsored school and then went to National School of Drama to pursue acting. The Adil that you all know wouldn’t have been here, if it wasn’t for these institutions. It breaks my heart to see some of these schools in bad conditions, I want every child to be given the opportunity to have access to good education,” adds Adil, who belongs to Goalpara in Assam.

The film, that was meant to be released on big-screen, will now premiere on an OTT platform. “I have previously worked for series and films that have only been streamed on OTT platforms; so, this is not a new thing for me. There are some advantages to releasing films on streaming platforms as they help the audience connect better with the performances. It also widens your audience as people across the globe can see it,” adds the actor, who is currently doing costume trials for an upcoming movie and using the rest of his lockdown time to cook and bake.

Pareeksha releases on Zee5 on August 6