Nobody does sarcasm better than Naseeruddin Shah. Or so it seemed when I asked him innocently whether he had plans to do more Hollywood films.
"Did Anil Kapoor go to the West? Really! That's news to me," said Shah as he scoffed into the phone, referring to Kapoor's role in the blockbuster Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol. His laughter that preceded this response could only be summed up as cutting.
"He is driving around in Chembur [in Mumbai] still after being an extra in a movie. You call that going to the West? I think it's an embarrassment. The guy should have been ashamed of being in that film instead of tomtoming about it all over town," said Shah.
The Slumdog Millionaire star, whose role of a flamboyant tycoon, best described as a cameo, has polarised fans and critics in India. While some have hailed it as a huge achievement, others have panned it as a three-minute role that fed a long enduring Western cliché of rich Indian men. But in all fairness, Shah's biting critique of his peer's supposed Hollywood foray or lack of it was without malice.
The National School Of Drama alumnus, whose last Hollywood venture was 2003's The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen alongside Sean Connery, is undoubtedly one of India's most respected actors. With an impressive career that includes playing the reticent Vishwam in Shyam Benegal's acclaimed drama Nishant (1975), or his phenomenal portrayal of a sensitive and spirited blind man in Sparsh (1979) or as the easygoing family guy whose serene life is shattered at the appearance of a love child in Masoom (1983), Shah's critically acclaimed start has ensured his longevity in an industry not always known for honouring true talent.
More recently, it was his role as a romantic crook in Ishqiya (2010) and the ego-centric, lusty matinee idol in the 2011 blockbuster The Dirty Picture that put him in the spotlight.
Surprisingly, Shah's equally critical of his achievements. He sets the bar high, there's no doubt about it.
"I hope I don't stay too long in that cubby hole of doing Oh La La's," he said, referring to the hit song from his latest hit The Dirty Picture where he was seen gyrating with the buxom Vidya Balan. The Monsoon Wedding star even took a swipe at Bollywood, rejecting a popular belief that the industry, in the last decade, has been doing away popular scriptless musicals and replacing them with good cinema.
‘Nothing has changed'
"In my opinion, there's absolutely no change in anything except for photography, editing and the designing of the posters. Nothing has changed, it's the same old racket," said Shah.
According to the 62-year-old, who has successfully straddled art-house flicks, theatre and commercial films, art is all about economics.
"Even today making films are all about making money. The rest is second priority… nothing has changed in my opinion," he said.
Even an interjection from my end where I name-drop Delhi Belly, Dhobi Ghaat and Peepli Live (Bollywood's renowned off-beat films) doesn't make him budge.
"The Dirty Picture and Delhi Belly — the two you are naming are just two of the 800 films that released last year. Look at the average. Also, good, unconventional films were even made in the '50s and the '60s. I think ratio wise, it is the same story. In comparison to the mountain of rubbish that we are making — these kind of good movies are very, very few."
He calls his acclaimed work Monsoon Wedding as a rarity rather than a regular occurrence.
So has he become disillusioned over time?
"Well, strictly speaking I am not disillusioned. But I haven't done many mainstream films — apart from The Dirty Picture over the last five or six years, all the films I have done are off the beaten track. Hence, I am a bit of an outsider and I am not really a part of Bollywood — I don't mingle with them and I don't think I will be doing too many of those regular potboilers."
This brings us to his first love — theatre.
Come January 20, Shah will stage his acclaimed play Ismat Apa Ke Naam (In Ismat's Name) in Ductac at Mall Of The Emirates, with a repeat performance the next day. Produced by Shah's theatrical production house Motley, the play is based on three short stories by the famous Urdu writer Ismat Khanum Chugtai. A family production of sorts, it will see Shah alongside his wife Ratna Pathak and daughter Heeba.
"Our company Motley started doing English productions, but all of us after a while felt the urge to do a play in our own language. Unfortunately, the number of plays in Hindi or Urdu are limited — the really good ones have been performed many times so it didn't make sense to do one of those well-known plays such as Aadhe Adhure. So then I began scouring Urdu literature. That's when it all started."
The play will not be "staged" per se, he clarifies, with characters concentrating more on the art of storytelling. Keeping the story relevant to today's times is also on top of their list.
"It's a story about human relations and that in itself is a timeless subject. And these stories are only 70 or 80 years old — and are still relevant," said Shah, adding that it will be appealing to all theatre aficionados — language no bar.
"And we haven't diluted the language. Only Persian words that don't translate well in the course of performance have been changed. But otherwise, our attempt was not to make a play but to tell the story the way it was written." This clarity of thought also extends to his future in films.
"I am extremely happy with the way my career and my life has gone. There's quite a bit left."
Don't miss it
Ismat Apa Ke Naam will be performed on January 20 and 21 in Ductac, Mall Of The Emirates. Tickets are priced Dh500, Dh350, Dh250 and Dh150. Call 04-3414777
