Indian actor Naseeruddin Shah denounces ‘serious actor’ tag ahead of his play in Dubai

“I was fed up with being labeled a serious actor. I wanted to be famous and popular,” said Shah in an exclusive interview with Gulf News ahead of his stage play ‘Ismat Apa Ke Naam’ in Dubai this weekend.

The money wasn’t shabby either with blockbuster-friendly, star-fueled tentpole films.

“I went through a phase where I decided to make a lot of money... I saw no reason why you shouldn’t work for money rather than sit at home? Why should we be ashamed of working for money? All those who say money can’t buy happiness don’t know what they are talking about,” said Shah with a knowing laugh.

While that phase of transactional movie offers is behind him, he’s currently in the best phase of his life, says Shah. He’s taking up roles that are mostly directed by his motley of close friends/directors and staging plays across the globe.

His latest stop is Dubai where he will bring his Urdu production ‘Ismat Apa Ke Naam’ to The Theatre at the Mall Of The Emirates on June 24.

Seasoned actress and wife Ratna Pathak Shah and his daughter Heba Shah play crucial roles in this family enterprise.

“I needed to do this play with three actors who I can trust with my life: me, my wife, and my daughter... I wanted them to slog it out. Each one of us took six months to memorise those three stories,” said Shah.

Organised by ADSS Events, Shah and his family bring alive stirring stories written by Ismat Chughtai, who wrote extensively on class conflict, and feminity. She was woke, even before that term was coined.

“All her stories are about women, but it’s too mundane to call her a feminist. She’s a humanist and not a feminist. She talks about the pain that she has seen and feels ... Her stories still resonate,” explains Shah.

Excerpts from our interview with Shah as we talk about why his career roared after hitting 50, his directorial process, and more.

You are an elusive star who is impossible to pin down for an interview...

No, it’s just that sometimes I also work. Remember that terrible thing we all have to do. I was caught up in a hectic shooting schedule for director Anubhav Sinha’s new series that I am acting in. I am through with that now.

So why should we watch your play ‘Ismat Apa Ke Naam’?

Everybody likes to hear a good story. Right from the time you are a baby and you are being put to sleep by your mum, she tells you these stories about poor princesses and how a prince comes to her rescue. There’s always a wicked sorcerer, a dragon, a horse that flies thrown into the mix... We get turned on to stories very early because of a mother’s influence. I don’t know many fathers who tell stories, unless they are boastful ones. But there’s always this fascination with listening to good stories, whether it’s told via pictures, music, opera, or actors on stage. The content of the story is most important. We have performed this play ‘Ismat Apa Ke Naam’ in Dubai a few times, and our sponsors still felt confident that we could pull in an audience. We have received lots of love every time we performed in Dubai with a mix of Indians and Pakistanis in the UAE as our audience... And if you want to hear three really cracking stories written by one of India’s greatest writers who wrote in Urdu, then this play is perfect.

Do you need to be familiar with Ismat Chugtai’s works to enjoy the play?

Her work has been translated into English, but those are poor translations because they don’t do justice to it. I suggest you don’t read the stories in English first, read them either in Devnagiri or Urdu because the turn of her phrase, her wicked sense of humor, and her keen observation of life is brilliant.

Actress and wife Ratna Pathak Shah described you as a taskmaster when it comes to getting the Urdu diction right, thoughts...

Ratna has a facility with languages. She speaks Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali, and a bit of Kannada as well. She has a gift for speech that I observed when I watched her rehearse. We met for the first time while rehearsing a play, and I was very impressed by the clarity of her voice and diction. She managed easily with Urdu but found it tough with certain words because I kept correcting her. There are sounds that your tongue is not accustomed to... A long time ago, I did one Malayalam film and I found it impossible to get my tongue around those sounds. And no matter how hard I tried, they had to dub my voice because I was not happy. I don’t have that facility that Ratna and my daughter Heba have. My daughter learned to speak Persian, so Urdu was no obstacle.

So how did this play evolve?

Initially, we conceived this production as a one-person play, but as we kept rehearsing, the stories of Ismat Apa sounded like they are about my family. I know this territory of fading aristocracy and those small-town Muslims and their tendencies. I identified with it. I felt she was talking about my family and my childhood. So I felt it was our story using theatrical devices.

As a director, what’s your process... Do you tell your actors how to go about their roles?

I never show the actors anything because, apart from my wife, most are in awe of me. If I demonstrate something, it’s not a good idea because they end up as imitations of me. As clichéd as it sounds, it’s always the play that chooses me. Any play that I have done as a profession like ‘Waiting For Godot’, ‘The Zoo Story’, ‘Julius Caesar’, or the story of Ismat Chugtai, I felt impelled to do them. When I begin a play, I can’t claim that I understand it... I never determine the moves, and I never fix them in stone. The actors are given freedom, and I want them to trust themselves. I make them read, read, and read the script. Absorb what’s being said before they show off their acting abilities, I say.

So you are some trapped genius or a rigid theater maven?

I don’t believe I know the best, except where diction is concerned. Then, it’s my way or the highway.

Do you think Ismat Chugtai’s works will still resonate with contemporary audiences?

Human nature hasn’t changed, and the psychology of intimate relationships hasn’t changed either. The tendency to put women into a corner hasn’t changed, and the tendency to reduce women to helpless creatures who need protection hasn’t changed. All her stories are about women, but it’s too mundane to call her a feminist. She’s a humanist and not a feminist. She talks about the pain that she has seen and feels. She always said that she doesn’t write political stories or about the farmers or the mill workers. “I don’t want to give half-baked ideas about them. I write stories about people in societies I know,” she often said. Our first story is about a village girl who gives birth aboard a train, and even today you read stories of laborer women who give birth aboard local trains. The second story is about a man who deserts his wife and keeps coming back. It’s funny and tragic at the same time. The third is about an elderly bachelor and a young servant girl. The third one is wicked and is fun.

Speaking of fun, you went to town with the third story in the play then...

Absolutely. If you don’t want to have fun on the stage, then you should not be an actor.

So how would you describe your phase as an actor?

I’m enjoying myself more than ever. Since I turned 50 and receded into that ‘character-actor’ category, I have been receiving interesting parts than I did as a young man. Leaving aside the early phase of my career, when I got those wonderful parts in great movies – the culmination being ‘Masoom’, ‘Nishant’, ‘Aakrosh’, ‘Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro’. I was the hero then, but then I went through a slump phase where I decided to make a lot of money... I saw no reason why you shouldn’t work for money rather than sit at home? Why should we be ashamed of working for money? All those who say that money can’t buy happiness don’t know what they are talking about.

The commercial movie industry has given me a good life. I was fed up with being labeled a serious actor. I wanted to be famous and popular. And it was just my good luck that I did the kind of films that I did at the beginning of my career. I didn’t choose them, they chose me. Shyam Benegal spotted me, then Govind Nihalani... I am grateful for that. While I didn’t enjoy the phase in my career where I had two shootings per day for two different films, commercial movies gave me a good life. It exposed me to an audience that didn’t know me.

Was that your ‘sell-your-soul-for-money’ phase...

Yes, but these films made me popular. Movies like ‘Tridev’ got me through to a mainstream audience. Ultimately, I love films that are a mirror of our times. These films will be important for posterity. Recent films like ‘Bheed’ and ‘Afwaah’ by directors Anubhav Sinha and Sudhir Mishra or ‘Faraz’ by Hansal Mehta may have all collapsed at the box office, but it’s OK. And, a film like ‘Kerala Story’ is doing roaring business, and that’s OK too. But the filmmakers who made films like ‘Bheed’ or ‘Afwaah’ should not regret having made those films. Even after 100 years, those films will be a record of our times.