An interview with Bollywood actor Naseeruddin Shah should ideally come with a statutory warning: “Do not ask any question that begins with ‘how do you feel when …’”.
This journalist walked right into that trap. Last Wednesday, the 66-year-old legend was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the opening night of the 12th Dubai International Film Festival (Diff) and a question about it seemed like an appropriate ice-breaker.
“That question should be banned for journalists. Whether it’s a birth, death or something else … they go: ‘how do you feel’ … I feel miserable now and I am allowed to feel whatever I want to feel,” said Shah, adding that the question was beyond dumb. It was a rant and Shah was aware that he was going to tick off many people that afternoon. But he didn’t care.
This actor, who won us over with roles such as the endearing Punjabi father in Mira Nair’s Monsoon Wedding and his recent role as an amorous poet in Dedh Ishqiya, doesn’t do diplomacy. But for all else, he was game.
He is the lead actor in director Anu Menon’s Waiting at Diff. The tale of two strangers who meet at a hospital as their partners lie in a coma has met with good reviews. Here are excerpts from the interview where Shah speaks about his own mortality, Bollywood, Salman Khan and film festivals:
What attracted you to Waiting?
It was a wonderful script and a great part for me. It was made with the best of intentions and under difficult circumstances and a small budget. Anu had a similar experience with her father who was in a coma and I was able to empathise closely with that because when my son had an accident, I knew what it was like to wait outside the ICU. It was only for a week, but my character had to wait for months. Waiting is about optimism and hope. It’s about giving in and is also a statement of hope. In the end, when two of us are patiently waiting that scene makes a strong statement. They are not despaired.
Mortality is explored at great depth in Waiting. Do you look back on your own?
I think about it more and more as I get older. I dwell on that thought, a lot more than I used to.
I also know if it happened to me tomorrow, I don’t think I will be terribly frightened. I have done practically everything that I wanted to do in my life. I would authorise my loved ones to pull the plug, if I am ever in a coma. Another thing, when I die, I will donate my body to science. I don’t want any memorials or a grave which my children would have to look after or feel guilty about. I don’t want to leave any trace except for the work I have done.
Are you enjoying Diff?
I never go to film festivals. I am allergic to them. I think it harks back to my days as a film student when we were not allowed to watch films and were prevented from going in because we were too scruffy, or too dirty, or too anti-establishment. I don’t particularly enjoy film festivals. It’s too busy for me. I don’t like watching three films in a day.
Actors claim that it’s a great time to be in Bollywood right now. Are better films being made in Bollywood now?
Better movies aren’t being made, slicker ones are being made. Sometimes, more money is spent on promotion of a film than the making of it. I don’t understand that logic. The movie should run on its merit. All these ‘promotions nonsense’ don’t help one bit. Perhaps, it can help a successful movie become more successful. It cannot transform a failure into success. When they see a Salman Khan movie, they [the viewers] don’t expect any substance. That’s why those movies work. But when a movie like Waiting comes along and if it doesn’t deliver on its goods, then it is going to be a failure. The name of the game is money. Unless, the distributors feel that Waiting has the potential to set the cash registers ringing, they wouldn’t touch it. Luckily we have enterprising producers who ensure that the film gets shown. Releasing a movie has become as difficult as making it.
But are you getting better roles now?
I am getting better parts than a young man, even romantic roles such as the one in Dedh Ishqiya. What is Waiting? There’s an embryo of a romance there between Kalki and me. The sequel to Waiting will be Still Waiting which will have Kalki and me indulging in a rip-roaring affair (laughs).
In India, stars such as Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan have voiced their anxiety about religious intolerance in India. Your thoughts.
Their anxiety is being misinterpreted as anti-national statements. Incidentally, the two actors who have made those statements are Muslims, but not a word is said about them being Muslim and thus feeling uneasy. That’s what nobody seems to take notice of. They didn’t even use the word Muslims and they said they are feeling uneasy because of the situation in the country.
Quote Unquote:
“This film Waiting might negate some of the horrors that I did in the past year,” said Naseeruddin Shah.
“Why should any notice be taken against a moron like Donald Trump. I don’t know why the idiocy that he spouts is being quoted all over the place. I don’t waste my time worry about Donald [expletive] Trump,” said Naseeruddin Shah.
