He isn't a stereotype, he isn't someone you would like, he isn't someone you would dread to become. Deepak Sampat has taken villainy to the next level with Netflix's Autohead.
A talker, a thinker, a brooder, a psychopath, a killer: This Dhanbad boy shares with The Telegraph how he put on the garb of Narayan, an autorickshaw driver, whom a documentary crew follows in the Mumbai suburbs and as they dig deeper into his life they discover sorrow, sexual frustration and mistrust. Excerpts:
How were you selected for Autohead?
It was September 2014, Randeep Jha was casting for Autohead. I had already met Randeep once in 2013 at MCCC (Mukesh Chhabra Casting Company) where I was being tested for Masaan and Randeep was helping Neeraj Ghaywan (Masaan director) with the casting. Unfortunately Masaan didn't work out for me but they did like the audition and thankfully Randeep kept me in mind even after a year passed. I got a call from him in the evening (September 14) and he asked me to come for a meeting. I was not even aware that Rohit (Mittal, Autohead director) was also going to be there. So he introduced us and then they gave me a few scenes to read. Then I don't know what happened but Rohit decided to do the audition then and there. We did it. After a day or two they confirmed that I have been locked for Autohead. And as Rohit says he stopped looking for Narayan after that day.
What were you told while handing out the script?
Rohit was always open to discussions so he just told me to feel free to reach out whenever I want to. It was the first feature for both of us. Though Rohit had worked on a few shorts before this, it was my first experience in front of the camera. So we didn't want to take any chances. As the format of the film demanded, he wanted to keep it as real as possible and he wanted it to look convincing so that it doesn't look planted. This was the only concern we had at the moment when he handed over the script.
How was Rohit Mittal as a director?
Rohit is a sweetheart to work with. He gives you complete freedom as an actor but he'll keep watching you at the same time on the monitor and he will not interrupt till things are on track. The best thing about him is that he is always very clear in his head as to what exactly he wants. He understands the psyche of the characters so well, which allows an actor to fly knowing that if something goes wrong, he is there. What I really like about him is: He has a very different say on things happening around you, which we might choose to ignore often; he has always something to ask or something to say to the society; the way his brain works is amazing, he is very talented and way ahead of his time and age.
What do you think is the USP of Autohead?
As we discussed about Rohit, in his every story there is something which is mundane but with a complete new perspective. Same with Autohead - when the film starts it looks like a simple documentary of an autorickshaw driver but as the story unfolds it becomes disturbing and hard-hitting. I have seen very few films where the film goes inside the character's head and you get to know about the thought process of the character, how the character thinks and how it controls the behaviour, actions, decisions he makes, how it changes one's complete life. That's the kind of film Autohead is for me. Every day we meet so many people from so many different classes in our day-to-day routine, we see them fighting for their survival, but we hardly think about anyone else because we are dealing with our own chaos inside our heads. We care about our dreams, ambitions, goals, motives, everything about ourselves. Our happiness, our failure. Where everyone is dealing with the same. Everyone daydreams, fantasises, rejects, accepts in their heads but the question is what do we do with disappointment, rejection, suppressed disturbing thoughts. Mostly we choose to ignore them but we definitely won't react to then, we can't. But in Autohead, Narayan does it. He reacts to everything, whatever is not in his control he reacts. Maybe Narayan is the extreme where one has only one solution for every disappointment. This makes Autohead unique for me and scares me at the same time, what if everyone thinks this is the solution. Where one loses all sense of reality, morality, ethics or sense of responsibility. When one cannot differentiate between ambition and necessity, everything looks necessary to him then.
The film looks like a documentary. Where did you struggle the most?
Yes, the film looks like found footage and 90 per cent of the film is exactly like it was in the script. Though it was scripted and the characters planted in a plot guided by the events, it must look real that was the primary concern. We had to keep it as convincing and natural as possible so it shouldn't look dramatic, planted or staged. This was a complete new format for me where the character is not just aware about the camera but can also break the illusion of the fourth wall and talk to the camera at will. So when I was working on the script and preparing the character, this one thing was always there in my mind that how should I plan, when to break and when not to or should I just go with the instinct while shooting. The other thing was to achieve the realism of that world, characters, so that it should look believable like someone who belongs to this world, actually lives here and not in the set. And most of the time the film is on the road I am driving the autorickshaw so I actually learnt (driving) autorickshaw. I drove it in the streets of Mumbai almost for two months. I used to live with them (autorickshaw drivers), these people were so amazing, they allowed me to stay in there, in their kholis (small rooms in chauls). While shooting the film real passengers used to get confused, they used to start fighting with me, kyu nahi jayega (laughs). A few passengers from the montage scene are actual passengers not actors. But the main struggle for me was to achieve the mental state of Narayan. This was the most challenging part, why because for other things there was always some kind of reference around you in the real world. For example what kind of problems you might face while living in a small chaul with your families. How it affects your routine. If you go there, you live there, you will get this experience what kind of challenges you might face, what kind of school your kids are going, what kind of food you eat, shopping, markets all these kind of social things, related to someone's class, society, friends right? But we don't encounter someone like Narayan in our day-to-day life. Someone whose mind works as a criminal. So how to study these things, where to find them like how you figure out that what is the thought processes of Narayan, what exactly is he thinking, why is he doing whatever he is doing? Because the film was more like a character study. That thought process, states of a criminal, psycho or a killer or something, like anything which is not very common around us. Means what are their trigger forces, where it comes from, why someone becomes like this and god knows if someone is born with it. Is it possible? I was curious. A lot was going in my mind while preparing this character. Because Narayan was a very complex character to play. I really struggled with all these questions and to find out the answers, reach little more closer towards Narayan, I did a lot of research, read a lot of stories, read about mental illness, its symptoms. A person like me, what I was back then... I was kind of shy, introvert. Probably I wouldn't have uttered a single word in front of the strangers. I was like that. It was tough for me to transform myself from here to there, someone who is like Narayan. I mean who is completely impulsive, aggressive, this reactive. Well yeah! that was the main struggle and it took me around more than four months to prepare the complete structure of Narayan.
Does Deepak identify himself with the Indian masculinity shown in the film?
No. Not at all. Though it is hard to define the topic as it is very vague.
You are among the very few actors from Bihar-Jharkhand who has gone this far. What do you think people from these regions should work on more to get recognition in Mumbai?
I think this is not about getting recognition in Mumbai or in any industry anywhere. Recognition comes from the work, when your work starts reaching to people they start recognising you gradually/eventually. The main problem is to land up with a good role, good work. I'm not saying that we are out of work or there is no work at all in the industry. This is the first time ever in Bollywood history or in any industry where so much content is being produced. Thanks to so many channels, web portals, international market. Nowadays everyone wants to work with a professional, trained actor because it saves a lot of time for everyone. Here we are lacking, in training. Like if we want to pursue acting professionally we should get trained first and why not? This rule applies for any other field other than acting. In the West, actors used to get trained for years and years and see the quality. We should work on our craft. We need to develop the theatre culture here, especially in Bihar and Jharkhand. Thankfully Calcutta is quite rich in this but even on the outskirts of Bengal and most of the towns in Bihar and Jharkhand, we still don't promote this form of art. I think theatre should be the part of our syllabus in schools.
Tell us more about your journey from Dhanbad to Mumbai.
It wasn't easy, it wasn't like some day I wake up in the morning and I decided to move to Bombay, came here and started working as an actor. No it wasn't like that. I had to take so many via routes to Mumbai. From scouts, to animation to story boarding, I had done everything. In April 2012, I came to Mumbai. In Jaipur, when I used to do story-boarding, I had a few clients from Mumbai. I came here and met them but there was no work. Then I started looking for work where I met one of my old clients Rajesh Shera. He suggested me to work in art direction as an art assistant as I have the experience in art and animation design. I started looking for work and I met Rakesh Yadav (production designer for Ship of Theseus and Tumbbad). I applied for a job and after a couple of tests and interview, I started working for him as a designer where I used to design sets and props on computer. Later I started assisting him on set and in shoots. I worked with him for eight months then towards the end of the year my mom developed serious ailments so I had to leave Mumbai and come back home. I stayed in Jharkhand with her and when she recovered after a couple of months I went back to Mumbai in January 2013. This time, I had already spoken to my father and told him everything and asked him the permission to join an acting course and he allowed me to pursue acting. I went back, enrolled myself with BJAS (Barry John Acting Studio) where I met Barry John. He was my mentor, my teacher, he is the best teacher one can get as an actor. I still go to him whenever I get stuck or seek guidance. I completed my diploma, started going out for auditions. Also I started working with Barry sir and started assisting him in the class, started teaching at BJAS. I taught there till 2017. Now I am also teaching at The Acting Studio Mumbai.
People say Autohead is the wrong portrayal of people from these regions. Do you agree?
No I don't. But yes I do believe Autohead is a comment. It looks like it has been made to mock, but I don't think it ever comments just on one particular state, region, group or any particular profession. If you are talking about incidences which occur in the film, don't you think we have heard such events around us, read stories in the newspaper, have seen it on the television or witnessed it around us? It is almost there everywhere in the world. Almost every state or individual is fighting or hates the other who is from the other side of the country or whatever. So rather than saying it is a comment on any particular region we must agree that it is a comment on us, me, you, him, her.
What are your next projects?
I have three films in the pipeline. Ashok Vatika with Sanjay Bishnoi is ready to release. I am shooting a web-series for AltBalaji. Rohit Mittal and I are working on a feature. Hopefully we will start shooting it around mid-January 2020.
