Acting is hard work no matter what Rajat Kapoor may say!

In coversation with Naseeruddin Shah...
First of all, Waiting has hit all the right chords with the audiences and commercially it will pick up but the film has touched the hearts of the people who have seen it, Director Anu Menon says that you coming on board was the high point for her. what do you have to say about that?
It is really sweet of her to say that. The script was so well written that I agreed to do it after reading it for the first time.I have always believed that when a script is well written, actors job is half done. It doesn't make the actors job easy but it makes it easier.
The script touched my heart and I believe that every one of us has gone through a situation like these or seen them when you have to take care of your partner, you have to give your everything, it's like taking care of a mentally challenged child. Tending the child has a meaning in itself. Waiting resonates with all of us, it is real. It was a pleasure working on it. We did have our disagreements and she was big enough to accept where she slipped so at the end of we got along great.
For someone who has gone through similar situations waiting to come out of an ailment it must have been easier to play such a character on screen.
No, Not necessarily, sometimes it cuts too close for comfort. Also, It isn't necessary to experience something in order to portray it and that is what I keep telling the students of acting that I work with that don't believe in this American nonsense of becoming the character, It is all rubbish. If you become the character you are useless for everything else. It is a mixture of your observation and how you have imagined it. It's never only one or the other.
What did you like more about the subject, the complexities of the character or the way in which the subject was treated which was very honest?
Definitely the simplicity with which the subject was written. The writer did not fall prey to the probes or the easy solutions. I would have been very disappointed with the script if my wife came to her senses or if Kalki's husband would have recovered. Life doesn't really have such simple solutions and that is why the film was called 'Waiting' and the audience is left in the same state of uncertainty as the two characters.
You have said that you did not enjoy working with Veteran directors as much as you are enjoying working with young filmmakers so does that mean we will see you working with them often?
Answer: I hope. In fact, the next film I have done is with a young filmmaker, Aparna Singh called 'Iraada' and the one which I am slated to do is at the end of the year is again with a young couple which is an adaptation of Shakespeare's 'Titus Andronicus'.
Do you think that the new filmmakers are more attuned to things around them and that reflects in their movie?
Yes, of course. they are better informed, their craft is more sound than the directors of the 70's, they have a better understanding of life but most of all they make films on the subject which matter to them.
So would you agree that they have a mix of both, a film which is high on content and is also commercially successful?
I don't think that an honest filmmaker thinks on these lines while making a film. The directors who aim for 100 crores making nonsensical multi starrer would think that way, maybe but like in a movie like 'Waiting' i don't think Anu had that in mind, she just went for the truth of what would actually happen and that is what I really liked.
Would you agree if I say that this was by far the most challenging character you played which was also very close to your heart?
I don't really know what actors mean when they say that a character was difficult to portray, I really need to learn. I portray a character by finding an element of that character in me and I have always found an element of any kind of a person within me a creep, a jerk, a nobleman or wise or idiotic. There is 'Finding Fanny' on one side and 'Mirza Ghalib' on the other and I have found elements of both characters in me and Acting is hard work no matter what Rajat Kapoor may say. It is hard work because you have to identify the quality within yourself and it is not always easy, sometimes it is slightly painful but that's part of your job. I can play every character they ask me to except for maybe, Gandhi but eventually when I did play it I was nervous because I had to play a character whose behavior was well recorded.
But if a person whose behavior is well recorded doesn't it make it easy to portray that character?
Actually no. I am not a mimic. For someone like Boman Irani or Johny Lever, it is easy but I don't believe in mimicry.It is difficult to get the details correct. You cannot use your imagination there, you are bound by strict guidelines.
Coming back to 'Waiting', did you do any special preparation for the role, observed somebody in the family going through a similar situation?
You don't start observing people a month before starting the shoot for the movie, you know. Your job as an actor is to observe and absorb all the time. An actor has to be observing all the time and storing it away until you find an outlet.
Talking about another film 'Udta Punjab' who is facing censorship issues because of the language used in the film amongst other things. If I may, 'Waiting' also had its share of foul or explicit language. What would you say about that?
I wish the Censor Board was autonomous comprising of well-educated people who are qualified and because the government has faith in them and then they should be left alone. Unfortunately, they work under strict guidelines and they have to always go by the letter, lakeer ke fakeer waali baat hai. It is actually pretty ludicrous, children will get frightened. The kind of video games children play these days are more dangerous, they make my stomach turn but they get a U/A certificate and saying a certain word is insulting to females. That is the only concern for female respect that we are showing. If you say Bastard it is disrespectful to the woman, it is not disrespectful to the man who conceived him but it is to the woman and that is really absurd.
'Udta Punjab' I don't know about but I think it will be a really nice film because I think Abhishek Chaubey is a marvelous director. I have worked with him twice but there was no censorship issue but it seems to be getting worse, the broodiness in which films are watched. I don't know where it's going to end.
Do you think that filmmakers have become too Box Office conscious that in the name of Good cinema they are looking to earn more money. What would you say about that?
I do take advantage of such movies if they don't offend my sensibility completely I even do them but if their aim is to add zeroes to their bank accounts you really cannot blame them for compromising on the content. It is quite scary this has been going on in the industry. For example, if you call a choreographer to choreograph a dance number he doesn't do as part of the film but as an item to show off his skills, same goes with the action director and so on. A fight is a scene, it is not only two people punching each other but we are counting the punches. Only a very gifted and insightful director like Sham Kaushal or Farah Khan would conceive imaginative action scenes and picturise the song or the action as part of the story and not as an item in itself.
Your role as an actor as well as an environmentalist too. Are you currently involved in any campaign or something that you would like to talk about?
I never was involved in any campaign. I was the face of Project Tiger. The state of the environment concerns me as it concerns everybody else but I am not an activist but I do my bit. I have always said that if you cannot water the little plant on your window seal you won't give a damn about the Amazon Rain Forest. If you can't take care of a little frightened kid on your door why would you give a damn about animals and wildlife? So that's why I believe in starting small. We Indians seem to have a big ego problem, even if someone overtakes us it becomes an ego problem. (chuckles)
The intolerance debate that has been going on for a long time now. do you think there is growing intolerance among the people, towards people?
Answer: Now I will have to be really careful of what I say. I think the people who spoke about intolerance and the way in which those statements were greeted with hostility, that clears the air about tolerance and intolerance.
Will we ever see you doing a Television fiction show again?
Probably no, because people nowadays don't want serials like Mirza Ghalib which is of 12 parts, they want 1200 parts. Nobody is interested in something poetic and sentimental. Mirza Ghalib's viewership was also not that great, serials like 'Buniyaad' and 'Hum Log' had excellent TRP's which were unbearable to watch for me, really. It is over the years that Mirza Ghalib became a cult thing and 12 episodes of 45 minutes each, we took one year to make it. Nowadays you make two episodes in one day. that is not the kind of work that I want to do.
There has been a trend making remakes of classic movies, what is your say?
Some movies shouldn't have been made in the first place, I see no point in remaking them. That is the truth (chuckles). I hope no one remakes a classic like 'Mughleazam', I really hope they leave them alone. I have been hearing that people are thinking of remaking 'Masoom', go ahead except that the story of 'Masoom' would not make sense in today's world of internet and social media.
What about your most loved film 'Jaane Bhi do Yaaro'. What if that is remade?
I hope no one makes a mistake of remaking that because making it for the first time was such a chaotic process, the number of cuts we made, we could have made another movie out of it, that is the amount we shot.
It was Anupam Kher's first movie but his part was cut out. But I can understand why these days they want to remake movies because thinking of new scripts is a task they would rather not do.
Is there any role that you can not/ would not do?
The roles that require me to sing and dance. I have failed repeatedly in those roles. I may have had a couple of box office successes but I didn't perform well in those songs. The only songs I performed well on was that drunken song in 'Masoom' and the songs in Mirza Ghalib but otherwise, it is a shortcoming, I will have to wait to be reborn to be able to do it.
But people love to watch you in songs from 'Tridev' and 'Chamatkar' as well.
It was more a surprise for people and that is why they enjoyed it as much as they did. they did not expect me to do it. I don't understand why 'Tridev' worked, I couldn't sit through it but I think my singing and dancing was one factor. I can say that without flattering myself because that was the only surprise the film had.
Talking about Anupam Kher, the recent brawl you got involved in regarding the Kashmir issue?
Let's just skip that altogether.
Talking about your career, was there any role you wanted to play but couldn't play?
Who the hell wants to play real life heroes. I wanted to play Robinhood, Three Musketeers, that is what I wanted to play. I became an actor to play such roles, not to play Gandhi (chuckles).
What if you were offered to play 'Godfather'?
I cannot answer that because it would depend on the director, the script, the story and the people working in it. The presence of these big stars hampers the odor of the story.
You have done Hollywood movies like 'The league of Extraordinary Gentlemen' alongside some great stalwarts. What if you are offered more Hollywood movies?
I cannot answer that directly because I have been offered movies after 'League......' which wanted me to portray a character of a generic Indian man because it is the only way they can look at Indians, it is changing but very slowly.
There have been women playing characters in Hollywood movies for a long time, actresses like Shabana Azmi and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan so these new actresses doing them now is not a break through.The achievement of someone like Kalki is truly astounding. She is aware of her skills as an actress and of herself and that is why she has got this far.
Talking about Kalki, she might not be in the league of so-called top actresses but do you think she better at her craft than most of them?
Oh she will be, wait and see. She is the most wonderful actress there is right now, probably the best. Konkana Sen Sharma is another actress I value highly. Kalki can even do a Madhubala. I am a big Kalki fan.
Kalki speaks really highly of you too. She was a little nervous while shooting for 'Waiting'
Yes, that is understandable. We hardly ever met and probably that was the reason she was nervous but I am sure she was normal after 5 seconds.
Actors have always said how wonderful it is to work with you so they can observe you and take so many lessons back home. so, when you work with new directors, is there something you take back home too, something that you learn?
No, I can't say that happens. you should have a regard for your coworkers but any lesson learned it is not such a short process. Any kind of learning takes time, sometimes years.
Do you think the current lot of actors are more professional?
Yes, the current generation of kids is far more professional than my generation or the generation before mine. This generation of kids really impresses me. A lot of them have made it on their own and those are the guys I really admire.
Would you like to name them?
Chaps like Akshay who has grown tremendously as an actor or someone like Shah Rukh whose acting I don't particularly like but I have to admire what he has achieved or actors like Irrfan, Arshad Warsi, Nawazuddin, Manoj Bajpai, absolutely marvelous actors. I am afraid I am not naming any girls because no name springs to my mind instantly, but these actors are far better than the actors of my generation, they are better informed and more at grip with their craft. They are hard working, they have realized the importance of looking after their bodies, staying healthy and most of them don't have bad habits. They are punctual and hard working and more cinema Savvy.
Actors like Dev Patel are acting in Hollywood movies so what is stopping you from doing the same as your last movie 'League.....' came out in 2003?
Hollywood also likes to put actors into categories. I think a breakthrough by an Asian actor is not a possibility but it has to be an actor whose cultural references are western. he could have brown skin and be 1005 Indian but he should be of western culture and it is not far but we have missed the bus (chuckles) and I am unlikely to get the role of Dumbledore in the next Harry Potter. I was once asked if I would like to do it, asked me to audition for it but I said no because I did not want to audition for it. I wouldn't mind playing it if it was offered to me but I wouldn't audition.
Thank You so much Sir. It was a pleasure talking to you.