Prashant Narayanan (right) with Tannishtha Chatterjee and Florian Gallenberger at the Berlin Film Festival; (below) Prashant with Irrfan in Shadows of Time

lWhat is your role in Shadows of Time?

This role has been a huge showcase for me... Ravi Gupta is an extremely strong personality, in terms of strength and values. His sense of perseverance and patience leads him to different situations that affect all the others in the story. It is an extremely honest portrayal, right in people’s faces.

lHow did the casting for the film happen?

Well, they had met quite a lot of actors, and their uncles and aunties too (!), and they were not happy. Then Aubin, one of the assistants, showed Florian (Gallenberger) Chhal, and he was interested in meeting me. There were a series of make-up tests and a couple of scenes shot here and there. Florian told me that the producer apparently jumped on the sofa when he saw me.

lHow was it to work with Florian?

He has an uncanny sense of framing things magically, which I am sure no film school can ever teach. He is a complete director who has been blessed with great skills of communication. We both were working in a foreign language, so it was rather important that we communicate with each other correctly. There were some initial hurdles but it was all resolved smoothly.

lHow different was the film-making set-up from that of an Indian film?

Everything was organised and all kinds of production demands met with a strange sense of precision that the Germans are in any case famous for. I was thoroughly pampered, I must say. And surely Indian films and film-making could derive a lot out of this simple love story.

lWas learning Bengali a problem?

I have had Bengali friends, so I understood the sound of the language before actually getting into the grammar. I don’t like following a strict script so it was important that I understood the language just in case one needed to improvise. A little bit of mehnat for a good shot is really worth it. I have been to Calcutta many times before. One of my closest friends, Indranil Goswami, stays there. I am really looking forward to going there again.

lHow did the shoot in the red-light area go?

Most of them were sex workers and they were all such wonderful people to work with. I just hope they all go and watch the film. I remember we were shooting at Prabhat theatre and in the middle of the night I sang to at least 100 people there, a mini concert happened!

lWhat happened after Chhal and Waisa Bhi Hota Hai Part II?

Both of them, being such good films, did not really get box-office results. But the critical acclaim for me especially in both these films has been really overwhelming.

lBut why do we see so little of you on screen?

Because I feel actors should be seen less on screen. Even when I was doing TV, I had the same belief. I want to make a really good DVD collection of my own where I could show my work in films to anybody, whenever. I am sure a lot of actors would be grimacing with their earlier work. I don’t want to be part of that brigade. I would rather do a small role in a good film than a big role in a bad film.

lWhat kind of offers do you get in Bollywood?

I think I have some 13 scripts lying at home with people who are trying to make them. It at least gives me hope that people still remember me, even with my idiosyncracies. I left Rang De Basanti. I do miss the fact that I am not part of the songs from Rang De. There’s nothing else I miss about not doing the film.

lAre there more offers after Shadows? Any project that you have signed?

Well, I have been approached by an agent who used to be associated with Sean Penn when I had gone for the screening of Shadows in Toronto. She has told me that she would like to get in touch with me once the film hits America. Let’s see.

I have just come back from England after shooting a British movie called Bombil and Beatrice directed by Kaizad Gustad. It has me playing Bombil and Katie McGuiness playing Beatrice. This also is a love story. It is a big-budget film, almost Rs 15 crore, a love story which begins in 1905 and gets its redemption in 2005. I play the same person in two lives, and it is quite amazing how different they both are.

lWhat are your plans from here on?

I am into music in a big way. My friends have a band called Agnee and I write songs for them. We have just been signed on by Sony BMG. They are working on the tracks in Pune.

I have also written some four feature films and am trying to make them happen. Film direction surely is an interesting avenue that I would love to explore.