Strong belief: Directors don’t make for bad actors, says Anurag Kashyap

Time flies by when he is directing but acting is also fun, says Anurag Kashyap, who believes directors generally don’t make for bad actors as they know ‘what not to do’ when facing the camera.

Kashyap is playing a baddie, a builder-politician, in Haddi, directed by Akshat Ajay Sharma and starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Mohammad Zeeshan Ayyub. The film is currently streaming on ZEE5.

“When you are working, you have fun. But when I am directing, at the end of the day, I feel, ‘I had just started and the day is already over?’ But when I work like an actor, I feel, ‘Just 30 minutes have passed?’ Sometimes there is four hours of wait between shots. Time flies when you direct but you are too aware of time when you are acting,” the filmmaker said.

Kashyap, who has acted in films such as Akira, Daas Dev, Ghoomketu, Tamil film Imaikkaa Nodigal and Kuttey, said filmmakers understand the medium well and that can be a bonus when acting.

“Generally, directors don’t make bad actors. They might not be extraordinary, but they understand the medium very well, which wins half the battle. If they don’t know what to do, they, at least, know what not to do,” he added. Which is why he loves ‘exploiting’ his director friends for roles in his movies, be it Hansal Mehta, Karan Johar, Tigmanshu Dhulia or others. “I have exploited everyone from Hansal Mehta to Vasan Bala. I haven’t left anyone,” the 50-year-old said.

Asked who makes for a good actor among the directors’ community, Kashyap named Rajkumar Santoshi and his performance in Santosh Sivan’s film Halo.

Gradual process

Sushmita Sen-starrer Taali, Made In Heaven and now Haddi, transgender stories are finding representation in mainstream and Kashyap is happy that there is a “conversation”.

“It will be a slow process, which is also necessary because when things happen overnight for validation, then they don’t change. It is a gradual process and people are now more confident to come out and be themselves on screen. Now, the next step for them is to tell their own stories whether they are actors, directors or writers,” the filmmaker said, adding that a lot of hard work is still needed in that direction.

“It is their world and, in that world, you see different sides… There is conflict and there is somebody who they call the most dangerous animal in the world, which is mankind, who takes advantage of them,” the filmmaker said.