“Mr Bachchan is amazing every time he appears on screen”

Arjun Rampal the actor had the time of his life working in Rituparno Ghosh’s The Last Lear. He tells t2 in detail just why — in a two-part chat that began over the phone from Mumbai on Saturday night and ended in room no. 3110 at ITC The Sonar Calcutta on Sunday evening, while sipping on black coffee and munching on some cookies…

Rock On!! and Last Lear in a span of two weeks.... Is this the best phase of your career?

I hope my best is yet to come. Let’s say it is a very satisfying phase. I consciously decided to do work that would satisfy me as an actor — Don, Om Shanti Om, I See You, Last Lear and Rock On!! — and I have ended up enjoying it a lot more. It’s great that this is a phase when all these movies can co-exist in our industry. It is very important that it does. Om Shanti Om was a challenge and the adulation I got was really encouraging. Then Last Lear allowed me to explore a different sensibility…. You feel like a newcomer because the director wants to bring out something different from you. Last Lear is the only film I have done where no one spoke of the business side. We all came together to make a different film. A passionate film. People will see a new Amitabh Bachchan, a new Arjun, a new Preity…. Ritu said he wouldn’t go to Bombay to shoot the film and be bullied by us, so we all came here and were bullied by him (laughs). At one point, Mr Bachchan started calling him Hitler!

What made you say yes to Last Lear? Amitabh, Rituparno, the script or your role?

Well it’s a combination of all. Ritu has written a wonderful script. He has a very different sensibility towards his scripts, which is rare in anybody else’s films. That’s why I always wanted to do a film with him. In fact I want to do more films with him. I am glad I did this film with him. With Ritu one grows as an actor. He prepares you to approach a role in a different way. Then of course it’s Mr Bachchan playing this very important character. What is amazing about this film is that it has a great commercial starcast but is a very different film. It was an experience to work in a film which does not have a common subject. It’s really amazing how both commercial and parallel cinema can co-exist.

What do you play in Lear?

I play Siddharth, a filmmaker. He is basically very passionate about his work. Siddharth wants to cast Harry, which is Mr Bachchan, who is an amazing stage actor and he coaxes him into acting in his film.

Is Siddharth like Mukesh in Om Shanti Om?

(Laughs). Oh no not at all. They are totally different characters. There are no similarities between them.

But isn’t Siddharth supposed to be shrewd and manipulative...

It’s wrong to call him shrewd and manipulative. He is in love with his work, which is filmmaking, and he will go to any extent to make it perfect. He is obsessed with his work. He approaches Harry for his film because he thinks Harry is the right fit. Harry too is very dedicated to his craft and the two get so engrossed that the borderline between illusion and reality becomes very thin.

Have you met any filmmaker like Siddharth in real life?

I think all good filmmakers are like Siddharth. They all will identify with him. The power they have over an actor. Which also shows an actor’s insecurity.

And is there a Siddharth in you?

No, a lot of people have asked me this question. Many articles have been written about me turning to direction, which is not true. I am much more focussed on production than direction. See there’s no point in saying that I will never direct a film. But right now I have no such plans. I am far far away from it.

Was acting in an English film different?

Yes it was difficult. I would like to say so because we are so used to saying our dialogues in Hindi, even though we speak a lot of English. I have never done an English film before; in terms of dialogue delivery it was a bit awkward. It took all of us a little bit of time to get used to it.

Ek Ajnabee, Aankhen and now Last Lear; how is it working with Amitabh Bachchan?

I think Mr Bachchan is amazing every time he appears on screen. Every time we learn a lot from him. We (both) were more comfortable this time having worked as co-actors in two films already. The chemistry was there and that’s the job of co-actors, to make things easy for each other. We don’t make life difficult for one another. But Lear is a different experience on a different level. The script and the director’s demands are far more challenging. We were all more prepared, more into the skin of the character. It was quite a different experience.

Preity was your leading lady in Dil Hai Tumhaara. Is she a revelation in Lear?

Yes we were opposite each other in Dil Hai Tumhaara. That was five years back. I have known Preity since then and our friendship has grown over the years. And I guess we have better chemistry in Lear. The off-screen chemistry shows on screen. Preity had a brilliant approach to her character Shabnam in the film. The way she looks, stands, stares, talks and walks is very different from all her films.

How would you define Rituparno the director?

Oh he is a wonderful director. It was a delight to work with him. And now I want to do at least one film a year with him (laughs). Ritu makes his films really fast. He is wonderful because he creates a lot of back stories for his characters. And he believes in taking a totally different route for the character. His characters have lots of layers. He is also totally mad! We had a blast shooting for the film. As a director he allows you to do what you want and at times he might enact a scene but you have the liberty to do it your way. Besides I think I am a better actor than him (laughs).

Which was your favourite mad moment of Rituparno on the set...

The first time I saw him bald. That was the first time I visited the sets… I drove straight to the sets from the airport. It was a circus tent and they needed me for some montage shots. As I walked in I was looking around for Rituda. I could hear a voice saying: ‘Welcome Arjun, welcome to Kolkata!’ When I turned that way I saw this bald man coming towards me! (Laughs)… But it was great working with him. We fought, we sulked and we helped each other out.

Were you doing a whole scene at one go?

Yes, Ritu had placed three-fours cameras all around us and we didn’t know which one was for a close-up and which one was for a wide angle. We would start a scene and finish it, even if there were mistakes or we fumbled our lines. Once Mr Bachchan choked on the drink he was sipping, and he coughed and coughed and coughed and did the whole scene. It was not there in the script. After the scene, Mr Bachchan said he had nearly died choking as the drink had gone down his windpipe but he couldn’t stop doing the scene as the director wouldn’t say “cut”! The scene has come out beautifully. That’s what I love about Last Lear. We were not trying to be perfect in the film. It’s the flaws that make it so beautiful.

The Lear cast included Tolly actors too. Did you bond with anyone?

Yes with Jisshu. We’ve both spent a lot of time together. Jisshu is a wonderful talent and great guy. We used to hang out a lot. To be in his company was good fun. Also Prosenjit, he is a very fine actor and we interacted a lot together.

Finally, the abiding image of the Lear shoot...

Having fish for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It was a bit overwhelming for me. Even the sandesh came shaped like a fish!