‘Script is the hero of the film’

V. Ananth chats up Vinay Pathak, who is making waves with his recent film Dasvidaniya that celebrates the ordinariness of life around us

Vinay Pathak and Neha Dhupia in Dasvidaniya

Vinay Pathak has catapulted to big-time fame with the accolades he has received for his performance in Dasvidaniya. Vinay Pathak asserts that the title of the film is apt. "The film sets out to celebrate ordinariness and life around each of us".

Vinay asserts that if anything is ordinary, it does not necessarily mean that it has to be comical. "Those who have seen the film ask me, whether I am sporting a unique hairstyle, just to add to the comic touch of the character. Let me clarify once and for all that the hairstyle that I sport in Dasvidaniya is as per the requirement of the script and not to elicit humour. It is indeed a matter of concern and a great tragedy that we are conditioned to laugh at anything, that is not the trend or the fashion."

Vinay confesses that the making of Dasvidaniya was delayed because he had become quite busy after Bheja Fry clicked in a big way. Vinay does not agree that a film like Dasvidaniya may not have happened had Bheja Fry not clicked. "Honestly, if Bheja Fry had not been released, Dasvidaniya may have been released even earlier. Like Bheja Fry, Dasvidaniya is a character-driven film in which the characters support the story, not otherwise. Making Dasvidaniya has been an easy job for me because Shashikant Shah who is the director of the film is also my partner. Both of us think alike. We want to make films which reach millions of viewers"

Vinay feels that it is a fallacy, that a film will not get an opening if has a common man in the lead. "A good film will always get a great opening, whether there is a star or not. Khosla Ka Ghosla was loved by the people though there were no stars in it to draw the audience. Then came Bheja Fry. You see, people will definitely go to see a film which does not follow a certain formula. If you make a film with honesty and passion, the audience will appreciate."

Vinay has not let stardom go to his head though he has been cast in the lead in quite a few films. "Most of the roles I take up have been character-driven and not hero-driven. My endeavour has been to choose a role based on how excited I get, when I listen to the narration of the story."

"I am not in the running with any Khan in Bollywood. It is wrong to say that I am charging a whopping sum of three to four crores to act in a film. I am happy as an actor. I have always believed that it is the script, which is the hero of any film, and not the actor. I am keen on doing myriad roles. I feel that stars do only one dimensional roles and refuse to touch a character role even with a barge pole, though I think that all heroes are actually common people". Vinay had actually made his debut with Fire. "I have always enjoyed working in one film or serial at a time and have never acted in more than one serial at a time. I have always preferred quality to quantity. In the last 15 years, I have to my credit only 20 films as an actor. I made my debut with a cameo role as a guide in Taj Mahal.

Vinay does not feel that his age is a handicap as far as he is concerned as an actor in Bollywood at a timer when teenyboppers are emerging by the dozens. "I have no qualms to confess that I am older now, when compared to what I was when I had set my foot in the industry a few years ago. It adds to my acting, because I can now play King Lear though I cannot play Romeo. I cannot play Salim, but I can play Akbar now. People now trust me with much more complex characters unlike earlier when I used to be bombarded with mostly comic roles."

Vinay is currently working in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi with Shah Rukh Khan. "It has indeed been a very humbling experience working with an actor of his stature, who gets excited about every scene. Besides Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, I also have up my sleeves films like SRK (remake of Malayalam hit Chintavishtayaya Shyamala), in which I play a good-for-nothing husband whose name is Shivaji Rao Khote, besides Pappu Can’t Dance Saala, Oh My God, Straight, Raat Gayi Baat Gayi, Antardwandh and Mumbai Chakachak (in which I play a negative role)".

According to Vinay, he would like to direct a film one day. He says he is addicted to struggle in life. "Initially, I was struggling as an actor and now I am struggling as a producer. I think struggling keeps me on the edge." — MF