In a Hindi roundtable chat, the actor talks about the one noticeable change in the industry since he began performing, being comfortable with directors, and more…
Edited excerpts:
If you were to pick one significant change in Hindi cinema, what would it be?
I think the biggest change that has happened in our industry, and throughout the country — we are at the start of it — is that even in mainstream cinema, there’s an element of realism coming in and how we manage to find that balance between the realism with the fantastical. Because there used to be an element of heroism, a requirement of how a heroine should look into the camera and flick her hair… these were almost prerequisites we had to adhere to. A lot of the acting had to be done accordingly; you acted for the camera. Today, I feel the audience as well as the actors are brought up on a steady diet of world cinema and exposure to different types of acting. I feel today there is less emphasis on acting for the camera.
I did Manmarziyan with Anurag Kashyap and the set had just two cameras: one in front of you, the other nobody knew where it was. He used to hide it. It was the first time that I worked in a setup like that. I was old school in that regard, wanting to know where the camera and lighting were… it was very technical. Today I feel there is a lot more freedom of movement. That affects our performances a lot. The first two directors who empowered me to do things differently were Ram Gopal Varma and Mani Ratnam. They told me: “Just be the character.”
What about the directors with whom there is no comfort level?
I don’t do those films. It’s so important for me. As an actor, I’m severely inhibited. I’m like a typhoon on set — all over the place and messing around. Everybody calls you a “prankster” but it’s not that. I have to be very comfortable, otherwise I get very shy. Be it actors or technicians, I have to forge a relationship with them. I did a film called Dasvi. I’d never met the director before. So when he pitched it to me, we spent almost a good year interacting. Thankfully, it was during Covid. I need time to break the ice and be confident. As actors, we are puppets, and in order to be an efficient one, you have to be able to completely submit to the director and expect them to take care of you.
Watch the full roundtable at:
