Even after almost two decades of being a film writer and having interacted with some of the biggest and most respected names in the world of cinema, there are some days — and some emotions — that stand out. If, like an actor, I had to create a showreel of some of my best moments in the career that I have had so far, this particular instance would definitely make it to somewhere close to the top.
A few evenings ago, I sat across a computer screen talking to two gentlemen whose contribution to cinema is of huge importance. They need no introduction. But I will attempt one.
Sir Ben Kingsley, 81, unarguably, is considered one of the most versatile greats cinema has seen. Born Krishna Bhanji — with a father whose roots can be traced to Jamnagar in Gujarat — Sir Kingsley has achieved huge success and unparalleled respect on stage and screen and, for many, he remains the man who brought Mahatma Gandhi to life in Richard Attenborough’s 1982 epic Gandhi, which won eight Academy Awards, including Best Actor in a Leading Role for Kingsley.
The other gentleman was Pierce Brosnan, 72, one of the most charming and charismatic actors there ever has been. My initiation into the Pierce Brosnan fan club was through the ’80s investigative thriller series named Remington Steele, where he played the dry-witted, quick-thinking eponymous con man-turned-detective, going on to slip into the iconic sharp suit of James Bond in four memorable films thereafter.
Pierce Brosnan and Sir Ben Kingsley
The two veterans — both participating robustly in this conversation with a twinkle in the eye and many a shared laugh — star together for the first time in their long and illustrious careers in The Thursday Murder Club. Set to stream on Netflix from August 28, the film directed by Chris Columbus — whose filmography includes helming the Home Alone films, a part of the Harry Potter franchise and the Percy Jackson series — follows a group of elderly amateur sleuths in an upscale old-age home who attempt to solve a murder through their intriguingly named ‘The Thursday Murder Club’ even as they mobilise support (and put their smarts into play) to prevent themselves and their fellow retirees at the fictional Coopers Chase luxury retirement village from being evicted.
Kingsley and Brosnan play Ibrahim and Ron, respectively, who are active members of the detective club along with Dame Helen Mirren’s Elizabeth and Celia Imrie as Joyce. Based on Richard Osman’s bestselling debut novel The Thursday Murder Club, the film boasts a stellar cast including David Tennant, Naomi Ackie and Jonathan Pryce.
Commencing this exclusive interaction with a namaste, Sir Ben Kingsley and Pierce Brosnan took us into the world of their latest film, their equation with each other on set and off it, why filmmaking will always remain a deeply collaborative process, and their love for India.
In this age of spy franchises and high-octane action thrillers, The Thursday Murder Club took me back to the joys of the genre of old-school sleuthing. Did that aspect also strike you when you were offered the script or when you read Richard Osman’s book on which the film is based?
Ben Kingsley: Chris Columbus loves British cinema and his love for British films goes way, way back... to the early David Lean times. I think he recognised that element of British eccentricity in this film.
‘Englishness’, so to speak, is a very, very strong character in The Thursday Murder Club. Most films could be set anywhere, they are generalised.... But The Thursday Murder Club has a lovely, specific environment. I feel that if a film is specific in its environment, then the audience as well as the actors feel held together. Nothing is vague or generalised. It is tangible, and that is what made it a joy for all four of us (including Helen Mirren and Celia Imrie)... to work in such a strong, clearly delineated environment. That clarity and tangibility extended to our apartments, the house itself in which we filmed and, of course, each other and the writing of the script.
Pierce Brosnan while filming 'The Deceivers'
Pierce Brosnan: I had worked with Chris Columbus before on Mrs. Doubtfire and Percy Jackson. He called me up and said: ‘I am making this movie called The Thursday Murder Club’. I hadn’t read the books then. Once he mentioned it to me, I read the first book (called The Thursday Murder Club) and I was completely enchanted. I jumped right in.
And then, of course, to work with Sir Ben, Dame Helen and Celia was a wonderful experience. Ben and I had never worked together before, but we knew each other in passing. Likewise for Helen, but Celia and I had made two movies (the 2013 film The Love Punch and Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again in 2018) together before this.
(Shooting) The Thursday Murder Club made for the most wonderful summer, it was a great way to spend those months of 2024. We became a company of actors in this intellectual whodunit.
That summer, what was it like for a former Bond to be caught between a Dame and a Knight?
Brosnan: Oh, I am a huge fan! I have always been in awe of Ben’s work and spellbound by what Helen has brought to the screen. I am a huge fan of Helen’s and also of Celia’s.
It is exhilarating to be around them because they are so passionate about their work. They have humility, kindness, fun as well as bewilderment. We all got on very well and the level of attention we bring to each other as actors, probably and hopefully, echoes the level of attention that the members of the ‘Murder Club’ bring to each other. I hope the audience will get to see that.
If you are bonded together with that clubhouse mandate, you have to pay attention, you have to be alert, you have to look at every single clue you are offered. Much like how between a quartet of actors like us, one had to be alert, one had to listen to the other and we had to relish every clue that we were given by the other. So, life and art actually mirror each other very beautifully in this process.
Sir Ben Kingsley (left) as Gandhi with director Richard Attenborough on the sets of 'Gandhi'
Your characters Ron and Ibrahim are opposites but also function like the perfect foil to each other. How did you play on that dynamic on set?
Brosnan: We didn’t discuss it really, the chemistry just happened. The energy of the performances really stood out. Ron is like a bull in a china shop at times. He is passionate. He really doesn’t want to be in this old folks home, but he also realises that it is probably best for him. And so, he enjoys the company of everyone. Our chemistry (looks at Kingsley) definitely evolved. Kingsley: Our dear Chris Columbus says that we four were his first choice. It was his alchemy of bringing us four together — because there is a simpatico between us and a certain curiosity that we have for each other as actors and as individuals — that has worked for this film.
Besides being a whodunit, The Thursday Murder Club is a commentary on ageing with dignity and also emphasises on how getting old doesn’t mean the lack of agency or opportunity. Did that also work in wanting you to bring this story alive on screen?
Brosnan: There are lovely undertones to this story which clearly play to the audience and we are grateful for that. But while doing this role, I felt like a 20-year-old, like a 30-year-old.... I went to work each day and it was fun... it was play... it felt timeless to me. Honestly, I don’t think of myself as an old man of 72. Life is not about age... it is about having energy, an inner life, a certain strength and curiosity about humanity and the joy of sharing our lives — as people and as actors — with an audience. Kingsley: We are grateful for what we do for a living, we are so grateful. And it is eternally rejuvenating and energising.
This is a film about retirees. Do actors ever retire, even if they aren’t as frequently on set or on screen?
Brosnan: Well, Sir Michael Caine once said a great thing: ‘Actors don’t retire, the phone just stops ringing’. Honestly, I don’t think about retiring. If I leave the creative life, it will almost be like stopping breathing.
Both of you have played sleuths/ detectives/ investigators in several projects. Mr Brosnan, James Bond, is of course, right up there and Remington Steele was one of my steady favourites growing up. What do you think it is about this genre that has endured its popularity across generations and how do you think The Thursday Murder Club will contribute to it?
Kingsley: Well, I think this genre has always been part of our society, our various cultures.... People like to know the mystery of life, and life is a mystery anyway. We all want to know what is beyond all of what we know... the kind of questions that I believe will exhaust you endlessly and lead you nowhere.
But within the realm of the genre of whodunit, I feel that writers like Arthur Conan Doyle with Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie and now we have Richard Osman who has brought these wonderful characters to life in The Thursday Murder Club purely from the experience of putting his mother in an old-age home and having to see one’s parent live with grace under pressure, as it were. I think humans, by nature and hopefully, at their best, are curious. As a species, humans have evolved because we are investigative. The urge to work out something, to get to the bottom of something is a primal urge that works on audiences of all kinds and of all ages.
The best thing is that you cannot watch films of this genre passively. You have to watch them, you have to pay attention, you have to be engaged. I think that has a lot to do with its longevity as well.
Do you have any evergreen favourites in this genre?
Kingsley: I know it is a very easy answer to your question, but right now, it is the Richard Osman books for me. They are so grounded in real, rich characters. The people in it are so real... otherwise we couldn’t have been able to play them. Brosnan: My dear mother, who is 93, reads books from this genre, among which is Sex, Murder and Mayhem (by Anton Pettway)! Kingsley: (Turns to Brosnan) Now I know where you get it from! (Both laugh out loud)
In The Thursday Murder Club, Helen Mirren’s Elizabeth berates a police officer (played by Naomi Ackie), who is likely to be Gen-Z, by saying: ‘People of our generation remember how valuable teamwork can still be’. While teamwork may be slowly but surely evaporating from many aspects of our lives and careers, do you think filmmaking can ever be non-collaborative, even in these times of rapidly increasing artificial intelligence and similar forms of technology?
Kingsley: The very joy for the audience is to watch a level of collaboration and I think the joy will evaporate if that collaboration isn’t seen on screen. Even if the audience doesn’t know what they are missing, subconsciously they will say that this isn’t life. I think they are called mirror neurons — to recognise what is and what isn’t. For me, storytelling — whether theatre or film — will always have to be collaborative. Otherwise, it will shut the audience out.Brosnan: I see the AI world materialising more and more each day. It is fascinating, it is very intoxicating and rather seductive and beautiful that one person can create an imaginary world. But at the end of the day, you want to be able to see the interaction of real people, of human beings and to do that, you need the human touch to be able to tell effective stories.
The veteran actors of The Thursday Murder Club with Richard Osman (seated), the bestselling author of The Thursday Murder Club
Sir Kingsley, most people are aware of your Indian roots and, of course, the spirit and soul that you brought to playing Gandhi in Gandhi. Mr. Brosnan, you also have a strong India connection, apart from making a film here. Can the two of you talk about the impact India has had on you?
Kingsley: As soon as I landed in India to shoot for Gandhi (1982), I was overwhelmed. It is a strange analogy I know, but my relationship with India has always seemed like that between Romeo and Juliet. Roshan Seth who played (Jawaharlal) Nehru (in Gandhi) used to walk me around parts of India that I would never have seen otherwise. The relationship I had with Roshan at that point of making the film was, I am sure, very similar to the relationship Gandhiji had with Nehru. Like my dear friend (Brosnan) just said sometime ago, it is wonderful when life and art mirror each other. I am very, very grateful not only to the late Richard Attenborough, who gave me Gandhi, but also for my dear friend Roshan, who played Nehru.Brosnan: India has a strong place in my heart. I worked with Ismail Merchant (as producer) on a movie called The Deceivers (1988)... it was a film with Shashi Kapoor and Saeed Jaffrey. India just captivated me. I love the people, I love the boisterousness and the mischievousness and the sheer love of life. And the food, the food, the food... I just adore! (Laughs)
The Deceivers has a certain poignancy for me, but I was also fortunate to be at Dharamsala and spend two wonderful weeks there. I also was in New Delhi for some time. All these parts of your country really left a mark on me and I am always wishing to go back.
