Entertainment
‘For me, to act is simply to do’
Actor, playwright, environmentalist, Padma Bhushan Naseeruddin Shah talks about the contradiction of being an ‘honest’ actor
Shoma A. Chatterji

Naseeruddin Shah was recently in Kolkata to deliver the Satyajit Ray Memorial address recently and the subject of his speech was The Honest Actor. Over the years, he seems to have developed a strange cynicism about cinema, acting, Bollywood, and so on. But let’s hear it from Naseeruddin himself.

Let us hear about that gawky 18-year-old who came down to Mumbai to look for work as an actor.

The year was 1968. I went knocking from door to door for work after finishing school in Nainital. I finally landed a bit part in the Rajendra Kumar-Saira Banu starrer Aman as an extra. Pocketing the princely sum of Rs 7, I boarded the train back home. This experience increased my determination to succeed.

How did theatre happen considering you won the best actor shield at St. Joseph’s?

When I was a student of St. Joseph’s at Nainital, I came in touch with the Kendalls, who came with their touring theatre, Shakespeareana. Geoffrey Kendall encouraged me to take up acting. So, despite the Mumbai fiasco, or rather, because of it, I decided to return later, to the same city to chase my dreams, well-armed and well-equipped.

What was the experience like at the National School of Drama?

I was lucky because at that time, the great Ibrahim Alkazi called the shots. I did a large variety of roles and realised that I could become an actor in Bollywood. Not satisfied just with the NSD diploma, I went to the FTII in Pune. I did the acting course and got close to two batchmates, Tom Alter and Benjamin Gilani. The three of us put our heads together to form a theatre group called Motley and came down to Mumbai.

Why the name Motley?

Motley is a pseudonym for a group of three English stage designers, Sophia Harris, Margaret F. Harris and Elizabeth Montgomery. Their first production was Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet in 1932. They designed three to four productions in a year. Our group, Motley, got known with plays like Waiting for Godot, The Lesson, The Liar and The Bear. Though Tom and Benjamin later went their way, Motley is still around. Today we are taking our shows to Dubai, Canada and performing a rich variety of plays. At ThinkFest 2013, I performed a dramatised reading of Saadat Hasan Manto’s Toba Tek Singh.

Kolkata is important also because of your new film Khashi Katha. We would like to know what role you play in it?

I do not have to speak Bengali in the film. I play a Muslim butcher, who has a conversation with the goat he is about to butcher. The goat narrates an unusual story in order to stall his death. I knew the director Judhajit Sarkar from our FTII days. I haven’t seen his film but I have expectations from my shooting experience. Khashi or the goat is the human conscience which mirrors our self.

What about films like Ishqiya and Dedh Ishqiya?

I enjoyed both though I must say the sequel was more enjoyable than the first film. The script of Dedh Ishqiya is more rounded. They have not taken the easy route for the climax. I did not care for the twist at the end of Ishqiya. I get along with Arshad Warsi fabulously because he is a secure and superb actor. The gorgeous Madhuri Dixit was also another attraction.

You did a very different role in A Wednesday. What did this tell you about the young pack of excited filmmakers?

They have a different approach to cinema. Neeraj Pandey made A Wednesday after experiencing at first hand what the common man which I played, talks about. Others like Anurag Kashyap have honed their craft but it is too early to draw conclusions about their staying and growing power. The best directors today are making films about the things they personally know and care about and also to some extent, believe in.

Who, according to you, is an honest actor?

Veteran actor Shreeram Lagu wrote in his autobiography --- an actor is a messenger entrusted with delivering the goods honestly, safely and securely without damaging the goods. For me, to act is not to pretend to be someone else or to disguise myself to emote in a certain way but simply ‘to do’. By its very nature, acting is being ‘false’. An actor cannot plagiarise like a writer can and he cannot improve on a grand performance. When an actor considers himself to be more important that the work he is involved in, he is not only being self-indulgent but is also being dishonest. Neither the actor nor his work can benefit in any way by being dishonest. Honesty is not a quality, it is a given for any actor and should remain a given.

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