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He has wanted to work with Buddhadeb Dasgupta since his NSD days. On Friday afternoon, the dream finally started taking shape. Over cups of coffee at the filmmaker’s Golpark office and then sauntering through Samsul Huda Road, Kahaani’s tough cop Nawazuddin Siddiqui had his first workshop with his director. t2 chatted with the director-actor duo of Anwar Ka Ajeeb Kissa...
Nawaz, Anwar Ka Ajeeb Kissa will be the second film you’ll be shooting in Calcutta after Kahaani...
NS: Yes, it’s like coming back home, as if I am returning to my village (Budhana, in UP)! You love the city that gives you work. Kahaani was a hit and I got success from Calcutta. Aur poochhiye mat... I am only eating and eating! I hope I don’t put on weight! (Laughs)
Tell us how this film happened...
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| A major part of Anwar Ka Ajeeb Kissa will be shot on this street. Buddhadeb and Nawaz walk down Samsul Huda Road. Pictures: Bhubaneswarananda Halder |
NS: When Dada (Dasgupta) called and asked me to meet him at his flat in Bandra, I thought this was the opportunity of a lifetime. I didn’t even read the script and I said yes. I had a dream to work with Dada. He is the best actor in the world — how else could he have made Mithun Chakraborty do what he did in Tahader Katha?! I had watched a bit of Bagh Bahadur and also Uttara while I was a student at NSD (National School of Drama). I have wanted to work with him since.
BDG: My elder daughter (Rajeshwari) lives in Bandra and as soon as she opened the door, she said ‘tomar Anwar eshe gachhe’!
Nawaz, what about his films do you like most?
NS: He makes visually stunning films. Also, the way he makes his actors perform. He can really make an actor perform.
BDG: Thank you. Nawaz is a very sensitive actor. He was very good in Talaash, Gangs of Wasseypur, Miss Lovely…
So, who is Anwar?
BDG: Anwar is a private investigator. He investigates small cases during which he meets various people. Ananya Chatterjee plays an important character but she isn’t paired opposite him. One day Anwar decides to sit down and investigate his life and that becomes a life-altering exercise for him.
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Power puff: From a paan-bidi shop on Samsul Huda Road, Nawaz buys and lights a cigarette |
Buddhada, you had shortlisted a couple of Tolly actors to play Anwar. What went wrong?
BDG: You know, when a director writes his script he starts visualising the character. Two years ago, I had written the script in Bengali. Nawaz was definitely not on my mind then. But after sometime, I decided to make the film in Hindi because I couldn’t find a suitable actor to play Anwar in the Bengali version! I had decided on two-three actors but after meeting them and watching their films, I rejected them.
Anwar Ka Ajeeb Kissa centres around one character. I wanted an actor who would hold the audience’s attention throughout the film. Then I saw a photo of Nawaz and that’s how I cast him. If Nawaz hadn’t agreed, I wouldn’t have made the film. Nawaz is my Anwar, whether it’s his body language, his looks, gesture, posture… You know, there are some actors who inspire directors. Nawaz is one such actor. Not only do actors improvise during a shot, directors too improvise just looking at the actor. It’s a two-way process. Who knows when Nawaz actually starts shooting, I might be inspired to change or add something to the character. I don’t have to manipulate Nawaz to become Anwar.
Nawaz, you must have heard from all your directors that you become the characters you play?
NS: It’s a magical thing if the director feels I look exactly like the character. I take it as a compliment. Itna maaloom nahin how I become a character, but one thing’s for sure — I have kept my personal life very easy and simple, and that’s why I can play complicated characters with ease. Too many actors’ lives are very complicated. Mine is just the opposite! (Laughs)
Buddhada, since you say Nawaz is just like Anwar, what’s the idea behind this workshop?
BDG: Well, the workshop isn’t physical. I am not telling him do this, do that, stand in a particular way. This workshop is meant to know each other better. We are basically having a creative adda and during the adda, whatever comes to my mind about Anwar I am sharing with him. Till the time we start shooting and till we wrap up, Nawaz must live with Anwar. We will start shooting on March 25 but I have asked Nawaz to come three days earlier so that we can have this adda once again. I can’t start shooting all of a sudden like two strangers meeting on the sets for the first time.
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It’s like coming home... it’s as if I am returning to my village. You love the city that gives you work
— Nawaz on Calcutta |
NS: For me, more than knowing Anwar, I want to know Dada’s thought process. During these workshops I realised that he is so modern in his thought! He is like a fresh, young director. That is my workshop. I am going to forget every character that I’ve played so far when I start shooting for Anwar. With every character, I start from zero. I feel like I have no experience. I don’t have any hangover of the characters I’ve played so far. These workshops with Dada will make me easy. I have never done a workshop like this for a Bollywood film before. They don’t follow this style. Workshops in Bombay are very physical.
BDG: I did this with Mithun, too, for Tahader Katha and Kapurush. While shooting for Tahader Katha, Yogita (Bali, Mithun’s wife) came and stayed with us because it was a long schedule.
Will you also bring your family during the shoot?
NS: (Laughs) Dada has asked me to. I have a two-year-old daughter, Zora. My wife and my daughter live with me on Bombay’s Yari Road. Let’s see.
Can you decode your style of acting?
NS: I don’t follow any style. The character tells me what style to follow. Now that I am gearing up to play Anwar, all I’m doing is trying to enrich myself about the character. I make a mental note of the character. It’s very important to understand the character. Then the world around me becomes like the character’s world. That should be the approach. While playing a character, you should never switch on and off.
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