Bollywood Film Fame Canada Magazine - October 2020 Issue

BollywoodFilmFame.com

NIDHHI AGERWAL:

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO HAVE IS INSIDE YOU

SHIKHA TALSANIA

October 2020

A SUITABLE BOY AT

TIFF 2020

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS WITH

RASIKA DUGAL NAMIT DAS

Priyanka Bose

Self-care also means having friends and allies

As the weather gets colder and we still sit in uncertainty in what is to come in the coming months and even 2021, we realize that we are increasingly turning to our digital platforms to provide us with some much needed escapism.

And that is something our cover story, Shikha Talsania, explains so beautifully in how she recalls moments in her life, be it being in front of the camera or performing on stage. With messaging on body positivity and inclusivity at the forefront of her professional life, Shikha Talsania is truly someone whose work has given us a chance to breathe and relax again, and while she is known famously for Veere Di Wedding, I love her short film Khaney Mein Kya Hai. In the world of cinema, our consumption is just so high, but we often do not realize our actors are not just glamourous superhumans. Nidhhi Agarwal initially had this perception but slowly realized that actors are real people too. She speaks to us about her journey and how she has come to value life even more in these times.

Whether it is Priyanka Bose, Neil Bhoopalam, Sur, Zuber K. Khan, all of them have such a unique perspective on life today and their mantras now. Each share learning lessons or their life mantras with us, which are truly inspiring.

Then, of course, is the inspiring duo of A Suitable Boy, Rasika Dugal and Namit Das, both of whom lend themselves completely into an era and world set in the 1950s beautifully. They talk to us about the TIFF showcase series exclusively.

Lastly are the ones who provide us with a behind the scenes look at what goes into making something work on screen. Faruk Kabir, the director of Khuda Haafiz, speaks to us about the importance of patience in screenwriting. Ashvini Yardi, the creator, producer, and showrunner of Masaba Masaba, talks to us about the importance of constantly challenging oneself.

And all of these are artists we just cannot take for granted. We must give them huge kudos to the work they have done, and how that work has given us another reason to live through this pandemic with a smile. Many of us are in very privileged positions and we must acknowledge that.

We hope you enjoy this one.

Until Next Month,

Shubharna Shu Mukerjee

16 SHIKHA TALSANIA COVER PAGE ShikhaTalsania

20 24 NAMIT DAS

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32 PRIYANKA BOSE

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FARUK KABIR

ASHVINI YARDI

40 NEIL BHOOPALAM

AANCHAL SRIVASTAVA

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46 ZUBER K. KHAN

SUR

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COVER STORY

“INCLUSIVITY SHOULD BE THE NORM, NOT THE RARITY”

Shikha Talsania Interview By Armin S.

S

hikha Talsania is a performer, and that comes through as her priority, whether it be in front of the camera or in theatre. When she started off her film career in Wake Up Sid over a decade ago, she had already worked behind the scenes as a floor producer, amongst other roles on the film sets. Her plethora of experience is captured in her matured performances, whether they are in theatre or film, her very popular role in Veere Di Wedding capturing global attention. But there are the smaller scale projects that capture my attention, including a short film, “Khaney Mein Kya Hai” featuring herself, Ayesha Raza Mishra and Swachata Guha. Someone like her deserves huge kudos as well because of the consistent messages she has surrounding body positivity. She also recently has helped by contributing her “doodles” as she humbly calls them, to a good cause.

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COVER STORY

SHIKHA, YOUR INSTAGRAM IS VERY REAL, VERY RELATABLE AND OF COURSE, I AM INTRIGUED BY YOUR BIO, WHICH READS “ACTOR, DOODLER, AND SERIAL PROCRASTINATOR”. WHY ARE YOU A SERIAL PROCRASTINATOR?

(Chukles) Well, because in my 30s I realized I needed to be honest with myself, and I do procrastinate like crazy. I think it is the nature of the job as well – you have a lot of time on your hands, then you are working constantly, and then you have some time on your hands. I really sometimes have to vegetate and let my ideas swim around in my head. Then, when deadlines get closer, that’s when I get myself ready, that now I have to do this (chuckles).

DOES THAT HELP YOU CREATIVELY BECAUSE I KNOW SOME PEOPLE WHO PRODUCE SOME OF THEIR GREATEST WORK UNDER PRESSURE? I don’t know…I think sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t, where I wish I had more time, and that pertains to different aspects of my life. I think sometimes I could have made something better – the thing is I just really like to observe life. I find my inspiration from there and the way people behave and interact and the nature around us, the smell of the rain – I know it all sounds very corny, but it’s true. I think that’s why also I’m a serial procrastinator. I don’t think I can put myself in a solid box that says I work better under pressure – there are times when I do and there are times when I absolutely don’t.

YOU TALK ABOUT THE SMELL OF RAIN AND THAT REMINDS ME OF AN INSTAGRAM VIDEO YOU PUT UP DESCRIBING “THE GREEN ROOM” AND YOU JUST DESCRIBE EVERYTHING SO WELL, I CAN VISUALIZE EVERYTHING COMPLETELY ABOUT HOW YOU WATCHED YOUR PARENTS IN THEATRE AND THE MAKE-UP DADA. DO YOU REMEMBER A MOMENT WHEN YOU WERE IN COMPLETE AWE OF YOUR PARENTS OR WHAT THEY DID, AS A CHILD?

All of it. For me, memories are stories and that’s what I performed. “The Green Room” is a true story. Memories for me are the music that was playing, the texture of things, how something feels in your hands. That’s how memories are built for me.

I remember Sundays being the days that my friends used to want to catch up and I would say, “no, Sundays are my working days.” I remember my Sundays in a wonky 1 bedroom flat/apartment and both mom and dad would wake up. Mom would be making breakfast or lunch or food for the day and dad would be shaving. Either Pink Floyd or the Beatles would be playing in the background. So for many people, Sunday was a day of rest but we were preparing to get to work.

Whenever I listen to a few particular songs, I go back to those Sundays. As a family, we used to get ready – I would go with them if my family was not around to babysit me. That’s a certain memory that has stayed with me.

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“I FIND INSPIRATION FROM THE NATURE AROUND US, THE SMELL OF RAIN…”

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COVER STORY

YOU’VE DONE A LOT OF THEATRE AND FILMS AS WELL. GIVEN THE PERSPECTIVE THAT THERE ARE CERTAIN ROLES FOR CERTAIN ACTORS, DID YOU EVER FEEL THAT THERE WAS A MOMENT WHEN YOU DID NOT WANT TO ACT IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA BECAUSE YOU WERE NOT FEELING FULFILLED?

I don’t think so, no. But I remember my first shot, and I remember very clearly because it was the day after my birthday. Yes, I had done a lot of theatre then. I was working behind-the-scenes as well. I was young and I was taking in every experience. I remember giving my first shot, with no lines. It wasn’t some difficult shot it just…felt right. My first shot, I felt like everything aligned.

I mean I have agreed to projects where I did not agree with the material but that’s life, isn’t it? Sometimes you like the people or the money, but not the material. I need the money, I need to work. The work may get you the eyeballs and get you more projects, so you need to do this. You need to be relevant. Your bank balance will tell you to suck it up and go do it sometimes, even if the material is not something you necessarily enjoy.

SO WHAT DOES THEATRE FULFILL FOR YOU CREATIVELY AND WHAT DOES CINEMA FULFILL FOR YOU CREATIVELY?

(Chuckles) See, I love to perform. Camera work gives you a different high and theatre gives you a different high creatively.

Theatre gives me more freedom in terms of casting. Camera work is now moving in the right direction, but at a glacial pace.

In films, it is not written in to justify why my character looks a certain way. And these are important things to talk about. There is an imbalance in the stories and again, I’m very happy with the work I have done. It is not one-tone work but there is still a long way to go in cinema.

I always talk about body positivity and inclusion. I just wish it was much faster to get there when it comes to the camera.

Inclusivity should be the norm, not the rarity, where I am celebrated not just as the fat actor but just an actor. I’m so glad our art is including these narratives finally but I am noticing that female characters address these kinds of important topics more. I have not really seen male characters address the important topics of body positivity, and themes in that direction.

But in theatre, your physicality is not a barrier to the work you are doing, to casting. For example, I was 27 or 28 years old and I was playing a mother to 27 year old character in a play and that was okay because it doesn’t matter what you look like, you just get to explore that. That can happen in cinema as well but you need a bunch of people who think like you do creatively to make that happen.

HMM…I HAD NOT REALLY THOUGHT OF IT THAT WAY. I THINK OF A MELISSA MCCARTHY

WHO HAS CARVED HER OWN PATH AND SHE IS REGARDED AS JUST AN ACTOR, WITH NO OTHER LABELS ATTACHED.

Yes, it is so different but Melissa McCarthy had to create her own work in order for people to cast her for their projects and think she could work. I can create something for myself but wouldn’t it be lovely if somebody else could create something for me? (laughs).

AND YOUR EXPERIENCE IN THEATRE HAS BEEN DIFFERENT?

You know, I remember in theatre when I actually had to check myself. So “Dekh Behen” is a play in which I play the bride and it is about five bridesmaids who secretly hate the bride. One of the lines is that “she has the perfect body, best job, and now she finally found a husband who actually loves her.” And during the play, I remember looking at my co-director and saying, we need to change this line. And she said, why do we need to change this line? You’re the one who is out there talking about body positivity and affirmations. And I was like, “wow, I didn’t even know I was doing that to myself.” I guess you keep learning every day. You have to check yourself and that was a moment when I had to actually check myself.

Like, I remember talking about needing to change that line in front of the cast, and the entire cast was like oh, okay, but why do we need to change it? Like, it didn’t even occur to anyone else. I was like, “oh, dear.” Yes, so sometimes you have to actually check yourself.

WELL, BECAUSE WE KEEP LEARNING THINGS SUBCONSCIOUSLY AS WELL. SO WHAT IS THE BIGGEST THING YOU HAVE HAD TO UNLEARN?

Honestly, the first thing that comes to my head which I have to keep unlearning is that you have to hustle for yourself.

Nobody else is going to do that for you. You’ve got to put yourself first every time. Only depending on your skill set which you might be proud of, it is not going to make the phone ring by itself. It is a never-ending process of hustling every day. I mean, I am happy where I am today and I have worked very hard.

But the life cycle of a day in an actor’s life is like I’m never going to have work again, oh I just got a job, I really enjoyed this, oh this released, oh nobody has called me, and then it’s I’m never going to work again. It is all subjective to everyone involved, you included.

AND THE BIGGEST LEARNING LESSON FROM YOUR PARENTS, BOTH OF WHOM ARE PROFESSIONAL ACTORS AS WELL?

I think there are so many but I remember one from my mom especially. I remember not being a shy kid but I remember not being a very confident or vocal kid. I remember my mom coming to school because I think my math teacher (I sucked at math) made some comment that was not really valid. I had come home crying and my mom came to school and had a very honest conversation with the teacher – she said you can’t treat a child like this. She has always been vocal like that. She has taught me that if you do not agree with something, if something is bothering you, you need to put yourself out there and make yourself heard. That’s what I am always trying to do now.

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EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO HAVE IS INSIDE YOU”

Nidhhi Agerwal 20 BollywoodFilmFame.com

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ER INSTAGRAM BIO READS AS 'ACTOR. DANCER. GYMNAST.’ AND ALL THREE SHE IS. SHE IS ALSO LIVING THE DREAM AS IS CONFESSED IN HER BIO TOO. AND WHY WOULDN’T SHE BE? WHILE SHE DOESN’T GIVE HERSELF AS MUCH CREDIT FOR HER HARD WORK AS SHE DESERVES, WHAT COMES ACROSS IN MY CONVERSATION WITH HER IS THAT SHE HAS AN INNATE SENSE OF MEANING AND DIRECTION. SHE IS ALSO FAR MORE HUMBLE THAN MANY I’VE SPOKEN TO AND GRACIOUS IN THE WAY IN WHICH SHE LOOKS AT LIFE. MAKING HER DEBUT IN HINDI CINEMA WITH MUNNA MICHAEL, NIDHHI HAS GONE ON TO DO SOME HUGE FILMS IN TELUGU AND TAMIL, AND IS MILLIONS OF FOLLOWERS STRONG ON SOCIAL MEDIA. AND YET, SHE REMAINS GROUNDED. Interview By Armin S.

I WANT TO TAKE YOU BACK AND TALK TO YOU A LITTLE BIT ABOUT CHILDHOOD. YOU WERE AN AVID TELEVISION WATCHER, AND IN YOUR MIND, YOU THOUGHT THAT MAYBE YOU COULD DO THIS ONE DAY. DO YOU REMEMBER A CRYSTAL CLEAR MOMENT THAT YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD DO THIS WITH THE SURGE OF CONFIDENCE REQUIRED TO BE IN THE INDUSTRY?

Of course, yes. I’ve read all of these books which say that you kind of envision what you want and that then actually happens. I think the first time I watched a film, my first memory of it, I always knew that I would be in the films. I don’t know why or how I recognized that feeling as a child but I always knew that this is what my life would be.

I would look at actresses with long eyelashes and long nails and make-up and looking wonderful. I would think about whether they were human and I would think to myself, but I’m a human being.

I never thought actors were people – like that is how young I was when all of these thoughts were crossing my mind. I remember Deepika Padukone’s sister was in my school and we were on the same bus. I heard that Deepika was going to be in the same film as Shah Rukh Khan and we are both from Bangalore.

I AGREE WITH YOU. I GREW UP THINKING THESE PEOPLE WERE LARGER THAN LIFE.

Yeah! So, I remember I saw her pick her sister up one day and I was like, “oh, she’s a person, she’s a human, I knew her sister so maybe it is possible.” That is when I really started to pay attention to how I can groom myself. Luckily for me, I went to a school where extra-curriculars were always very important. The system of exams and marks was not as important. Every day, from 2 to 4 pm, we had to participate in some sort of new sport. So my mind was always very open to doing different things. My mom has probably taken me to every single class possible – horse riding to baking to mehndi to tennis. Every single thing. Somewhere, that also helped me become more confident.

It was not about knowing everything perfectly, it was more that I could learn this. I had the ability to learn. Even my first film, I did not really know what I was doing. My co-actor had to move me. I trained in a lot of things but I had not trained in acting, but I learnt on the job. So I have always I think had the confidence in my ability to learn.

NOW, FOR FOR MUNNA MICHAEL, YOU WERE ONE OF HUNDREDS OF GIRLS THAT HAD AUDITIONED. IF YOU ARE NOT FROM THE INDUSTRY, YOU MUST THINK “OH, I MAY NOT HAVE A SHOT AT THIS.” Absolutely.

DO YOU REMEMBER, IN YOUR OR AFTER YOUR AUDITION, THAT THERE IS SOMETHING THAT HAPPENED THAT MADE YOU THINK YOU HAD DONE WELL OR WAS IT A COMPLETE BLUR TO YOU?

I do remember because there were so many rounds. I had to send in a video tape of me dancing. I had to send in a video of me acting. Then they made me come in person and they made me act in front of them. All of this was being done by a person

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“I NEVER THOUGHT ACTORS WERE PEOPLE”

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INTERVIEW

“MY CONFIDENCE HAS BEEN SHATTERED MANY TIMES, NOT JUST ONCE.”

who is not trained. I also have not given many auditions – I think I have given maybe three proper auditions. All three were for films – I got two out of them.

I chose Munna Michael because it was a much bigger scale and the role I got was quite important in that film.

I could say my audition was really good but I also think I was lucky and I was at the right place at the right time. I think the whole dancing really helped and the role was for a dancer. I was really happy that I got that training in dancing as I had done ballet for eight years. I did not have much of a doubt though. I feel like I always know something is going to happen – I just didn’t know which film I would get as a launch.

I also think I’m a bit spiritual that way that I really believe that whether it happens or it doesn’t happen, it is for the best. So I think I have been very lucky but yes, I have also worked hard.

YOU TALKED ABOUT BEING A BIT SPIRITUAL, BEING CONFIDENT – AS I SAID THAT THE PERCEPTION THAT A LOT OF YOU ARE HUMANS BUT NOT REALLY EVEN THOUGH I TALK TO SO MANY OF YOU – THAT PERCEPTION STILL EXISTS…

Social media is really breaking that perception. Before social media you did not even know what somebody really looked like.

It really has broken that façade.

BUT IT STILL EXISTS RIGHT – THE PERCEPTION THAT YOU MAKE A LOT OF MONEY, THERE IS SO MUCH GLAMOUR. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THAT CONFIDENCE, THE SPIRITUALITY IS SHATTERED?

My confidence has been shattered many times, not just once. I’m a very pampered child at home. I come from a family in that my parents will say, do not study so much, you will get a headache.

Marks were never a priority as there was no pressure from my family.

But out in the real world, that was a real challenge. Coming back

to your own home alone is a challenge because there is nobody there to say that you did so well today, or go to sleep.

I met so many people before I got my first film – let’s see if you actually get a first film. After that, oh, let’s see if you actually do well. Let’s see if you will actually continue. I also think there is a side of me that is stubborn – it is a very positive emotion but I feel motivated. But it takes a lot to bring yourself back up. More than confidence, I think you just really need to have faith – you just need to have something to believe in, that no matter what, you will be okay.

At least two clear phases of my life, I remember thinking whether I was even good enough or I even chose the right profession. But then you have to make sure you don’t doubt yourself because some groups of people do not believe in you.

GIVEN YOUR DANCE BACKGROUND I MUST ASK. DANCERS HAVE A SENSE OF DISCIPLINE AND CREATIVITY BLENDED AND I FIND MOST DANCERS DO WELL IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA. HOW HAS DANCE HELPED YOU IN THOSE TWO ASPECTS?

I think dancing has really, even in my acting career, helped me in casting for films. It could be a big plus for the songs in a film. It is a huge reason why I started and why I’m here today.

Coming to the discipline part of it, dancing is almost like meditation, where you are in connection with yourself completely. That’s I think where the confidence comes from as well.

Even as a person, you want to stretch every day and I watch so many videos of dance universities and I will show steps to my choreographer and those can become the hook step. Discipline also helps you do stuff for your own body. It is like a form of meditation.

In terms of creativity, dance is a form of expression and there are so many forms and it is beautiful to watch but even more beautiful to do.

SO WHAT’S YOUR GUILTY PLEASURE DANCE NUMBER?

(Laughs) I love very mass-y, Indian songs, the typical Salman Khan kind of songs. You could be in London and you could really listen to that kind of song…That seeti-type, hip thrusts type. They feel great. I keep my hair open, except when I’m doing ballet if course, get in front of the mirror and practice. Or I just let loose and dance.

WITH THIS LOCKDOWN NOW, HAD IT MADE YOU VALUE SOMETHING MORE PERHAPS SOMETHING YOU TOOK FOR GRANTED?

Everything. I did an Insta flight count and I took 163 flights last year, and this year I had done only 25. 163 is a lot – like once every two days. I was coming home maybe 1 or 2 days in the year. So I realized, coming home is so important. The internet is so important. I have watched so many films, so many shows. I don’t know what I would do without the internet!

I have also taken this time to realize my own priorities. I was running and running and this has made me stop and realize that you will be fine. And everything that you have is right here, inside you. It has made me realize that my family members are the most important people in my life. As long as they are okay and inside I’m okay, life is okay. Every time they call me now, I will pick up their call…unless I’m in a shot or something (Chuckles).

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TIFF 2020

SAVITA REMINDS ME OF THE PEOPLE I GREW UP WITH”

RASIKA DUGAL ON A SUITABLE BOY Interview By Armin S.

E

VERY TIME I SPEAK TO RASIKA DUGAL, I FEEL MY MIND EXPLORING NEW THOUGHTS OR THOUGHTS PACKED AWAY AT THE BACK OF MY MIND. THIS TIME AROUND, WHEN I SPEAK TO RASIKA DUGAL ABOUT A SUITABLE BOY, THE SERIES DIRECTED BY MIRA NAIR, I DELVE INTO THE ERA THE SERIES AND NOVEL WAS BASED IN AND SOMEHOW WE END UP DISCUSSING HOW OUR UNDERSTANDING OF FEMINISM HAS EVOLVED WHILE DISCUSSING HER CHARACTER, SAVITA. A SUITABLE BOY WAS A PART OF THE TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL IN 2020 AND IS RELEASING IN OCTOBER 2020 ON NETFLIX.

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INTERVIEW

IN ALL CANDOUR, A SUITABLE BOY SAT ON MY BOOKSHELF FOR TEN YEARS BEFORE I DECIDED TO PICK IT UP AND READ IT FROM FRONT TO BACK. You actually finished it but some people didn’t finish it!

WELL, IT TOOK A COUPLE OF TRIES BUT WHEN I FINALLY DID AND I HEARD THE NOVEL WAS GOING TO BE ADAPTED INTO A SCREENPLAY FOR A SERIES, I WAS NERVOUS. VERY SELDOM DO I ENJOY NOVELS BEING TURNED INTO FILMS. BUT WITH A SUITABLE BOY, I ACTUALLY WATCHED A FEW EPISODES OF THE SERIES AND THEN WANTED TO GO BACK AND REVISIT THE CHARACTERS. DID YOU HAVE ANY APPREHENSION OF BEING A PART OF A SERIES BASED OFF OF THE VIKRAM SETH NOVEL?

I used to have that trepidation a few years ago but I think in the last few years, even my patterns of consumption have changed.

I used to read a lot but now I’ve become a lot more visual than I used to be. I consume a lot of content visually. Therefore, my hesitation for a piece of literature to be translated on screen is not there anymore. In fact, I’m very excited and think that the adaptations are a beautiful way to archive a piece of literature, especially a novel like A Suitable Boy, it was impossible to make that novel into a film. And with the coming generation, visual consumption has become a lot more popular than reading, as far as I know. I think for those people who may not read, it is a great way to keep the literature alive. Those are the reality of the times we live in. I mean, sometimes, I lament the fact that I don’t read as much as I used to. I’m sure it would have been very hard to leave out any part from the book in the series for Vikram (Seth) or Mira. I mean, you also have someone like Andrew Davies who is adapting the book into a screenplay, who has some great work so I was not worried.

All the doubts or any small hesitation that I might have had actually came later even though I was very excited to work with Mira Nair. That was driving my excitement. It had been on my bucket list. I was not sure if it would get checked or not but it did.

I’m so happy for that experience. I was excited from the word ‘go’ because of Mira.

NOW, MIRA NAIR MAKES SURE THAT EACH CHARACTER IS PIVOTAL TO THE PLOT IN THE FILM, WHICH IS NOT ALWAYS SOMETHING DIRECTORS CAN ACCOMPLISH WITH AN ENSEMBLE CAST. LIKE EACH ONE OF YOU IS INTEGRAL TO THE STORY. THIS IS ALSO A FEAT THAT VERY FEW SCREENWRITERS CAN ACCOMPLISH AND OF COURSE, ANDREW DAVIES HAS SO MUCH EXPERIENCE. Yes, I mean, if you look at all of Mira’s previous work, she has

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TIFF 2020 worked with ensemble casts. Maybe with another director, I would have the fear that maybe this part is too small, maybe it won’t get any attention, but with Mira, I know that each character in her film gets a lot of attention. I think that comes from a unique ability of Mira’s to give you her complete attention with tons of things happening around her.

In ensemble casts, every actor comes with the insecurities of whether their parts are good enough but with Mira, I was very sure that whichever way my character would be shown. I knew there would be something about Savita that people would take back.

YOU SAID IN AN INTERVIEW ONCE THAT YOU HAD JOKED WITH MIRA THAT YOU FEEL MOST COMFORTABLE IN THE ERA OF A SUITABLE BOY – THE 1950S. WHEN DID YOU FIRST FEEL LIKE YOU STEPPED INTO THAT ERA?

Several times. The first time I felt like that was when I went for the costume trial with Arjun Bhasin and I cannot tell you what kind of joy it is to work with somebody like that. Not only is everything particular to the era but also, the clothes are so beautiful that you are spoiled for choice. There is hardly a costume trial where I just feel like seeing everything (chuckles) where I want to keep things for myself.

The sarees are just so gorgeous, the material is just so beautiful.

That kind of creativity and knowledge and that kind of collaboration which Mira and Arjun have, it is just so beautiful to watch.

I remember when we were shooting my wedding sequence, there was a miniature painting that was his reference for the colours. I was like, “wow, what a lovely reference to use.” Like at my wedding, everyone is in brocade sarees, and everyone is in cotton sarees at Lata’s wedding. No wonder his work is so good, like his reference was from art, not just another film.

WOW, IT JUST SHOWS THE ATTENTION TO DETAIL.

Exactly. I’ll give you another example. There is a scene in which we are looking for Bhaskar, I think it starts in the third episode. There are about 150-200 people as junior artists and they are all supposed to be in this scene. There is one junior artist that Mira notices. Mira said to that one person, “you are not wearing our costume.” That’s the level of detail they work with. I thought he belonged right in the crowd. But she said, he was not wearing the right colours. So I was very impressed with that. To notice that in such a large crowd, knowing the colour palette you are working with, is just phenomenal.

SO WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR BIGGEST TAKE AWAY FROM YOUR CHARACTER, SAVITA?

“FEMINISM IS ABOUT CHOICE AND NOT THE CHOICE YOU MAKE.” 20 BollywoodFilmFame.com 26

What I felt with Savita is similar to how I felt with Safia in Manto with Nandita Das. Even though Savita and Safia are different entirely, but there were parts to them that I did not entirely identify with for myself but they reminded me of the people I grew up with. People who made certain choices in life with a lot of agency, courage, and strength.

When I was in college, my idea of feminism was sort of about women making different choices, and not traditional choices. But my more nuanced view of feminism happened a couple of years after college, that feminism is about choice and not the choice you make.

Safia and Savita both reminded me that you can make some traditional choices but do so with grace and dignity, even though Safia’s life was much more full of hardships than Savita’s life. But the kind of grace and sensitivity with which they chose to live their lives is something very remarkable.

INTERVIEW

TIFF 2020

NAMIT

DAS

IDENTIFYING WITH THE SOUL OF HARESH IN A SUITABLE BOY Interview by Armin S.

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hen I spoke to Namit Das, he still had not seen A Suitable Boy in its final version, the version that had been airing in its six-episode series on BBC. But he had dubbed his parts in Hindi for the release in India. Much of his experience was not from watching the series but from acting in front of the camera completely. In my conversation with Namit, we got into the differences in having a scene depicted in a book versus the visual medium of cinema, the importance of diction, and his character, Haresh’s, soul. I could have probably kept talking to him for much more than the thirty-five odd minutes we spoke, but that would have been a very long interview, and he was also in the midst of work. But here’s our chat, one of the more interesting chats I have had in a while.

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A SUITABLE BOY IS A VERY TOUGH READ BECAUSE OF THE SHEER MASS OF IT. BUT YOU GOT THROUGH IT, ALTHOUGH IT TOOK YOU A NUMBER OF YEARS.

(chuckles) In 2001, I got the courage to pick up the book.

It’s massive. It is very hard on your wrists actually. I remember telling Vikram as well. I would finish it at the same point – the 500 page mark – and leave it, up until 2015. For 15 years, I could only finish to that page. There are just so many characters. But in 2015, I gave three months of my life to it and finally finished it. I fell in love with the characters and that story. When I finished it, I felt the gap as a reader. I did not go back to any book for three or fourth months because I was missing the characters so much.

NOW I’M AN AVID READER MYSELF AND VERY WEARY OF NOVEL ADAPTATIONS TO ANY CINEMATIC FORMAT. THE WAY A BOOK DEVELOPS CHARACTERS AND SETTINGS IS JUST NOT THE SAME IN A TWO SECOND VISUAL. I ALSO AM AFRAID OF WHETHER WHAT I IMAGINED VISUALLY AND COMES OUT ON SCREEN. I WILL ALSO SAY THAT I’M GLAD A SUITABLE BOY IS A SERIES, NOT A FILM, BECAUSE A FILM WOULD NOT HAVE DONE JUSTICE TO THE SHEER VOLUME OF THE BOOK. DID YOU HAVE ANY OF THE SAME APPREHENSIONS?

This is where the person who is directing the adaptation comes into the picture and becomes so important. With a text like A Suitable Boy, which is 1500 pages long, there is an essence to the story. Mira is the only person who could have directed this in the world. She is an insider but she is our voice to the global fraternity. She understands the world in a complete sense. She can see it from the Eastern and the Western perspective. Andrew Davies also did a fantastic with the screenplay, but it is Mira’s vision also which is closely matched to the world Vikram Seth created in the book. So, maybe you do not have the satisfaction of the sunrise that is described, but you will have the essence of the sunlight in the series.

The other thing is that the characters are very lovable and very real. Something that happens with text and history is that actors get into certain postures that seem very plastic.

But the truth is, the way Vikram has written the book is with characters that are so real, and they are going through the situation at that point. That is the reason why the book works. That’s the essence which Mira has been able to capture through each actor, each situation. That’s her beauty and skills.

One can compare it to the book only to a certain point. The essence of the book lives in these six episodes – but she has now made it visually stunning and it also achieves something that is very real.

I AGREE. THE CHARACTERS ARE STILL VERY RELEVANT; WHILE THE POLITICAL

BACKDROP HAS CHANGED FROM 1952 TO 2020, THE EMOTIONAL UPHEAVAL OF EACH CHARACTER IS VERY RELATABLE. I ALSO THINK THE PRODUCTION DESIGN BY STEPHANIE CARROLL IS MAGICAL. I REMEMBER WATCHING AN INTERVIEW WHERE ISHAAN KHATTER SAID THAT SOMETIMES HE WOULD JUST WANDER ABOUT HIS OWN HOUSE THAT WAS CREATED ON SET. WHEN DID YOU FIRST FEEL LIKE YOU WERE IN THAT ERA, PLAYING HARESH?

The moment I put my pants on. We had a screen test which was also looking at the colour schemes and how it would look – one and a half months before the shoot. I remember wearing my pants and I realized that I am not used to them. I realized I would seem very plastic if I do not get used to the pants Haresh wears. I told Mira that we should not look like people who do not talk like this or do not wear these clothes.

Arjun Bhasin, the costume designer, and the magician himself, he sent me pants – I was shooting in West Bengal at that time. I actually started to sleep in the pants to get used to them.

See, Haresh is a cobbler and he is in the shoemaking industry. I spent time with shoemakers. Mira made sure I go to a factory to get to know what it takes to make a shoe – obviously, in 1952, things were very different. A cobbler would come to my house and teach me how to make a shoe so I should know the basics at least. I started working with him and sitting with him on the sidewalk. These are things you create for yourself to make the character alive inside you. Only when you are feeling it inside is when you can show people what he is going through inside. I think you need to go through this process to make it gradual so I could feel like Haresh.

I also identify with him so much. I think I am him somewhere as a human being, as a person. I was also lucky there. Because sometimes you are just trying to find how the character existed. And by the end of the project, you sometimes skim through and don’t end up understanding the character. But I think the process was beautiful and Haresh is beautiful (chuckles) and I completely understood him.

YOU’VE TALKED ABOUT THAT BEFORE – THAT HE IS ORGANIZED LIKE YOU, HE LIKES TO DO THINGS A CERTAIN WAY. BUT WHAT YOU TALK ABOUT ARE HABITS WHICH ANYONE CAN INCULCATE. THERE ARE LAYERS TO HARISH THOUGH – HE IS VERY ENDEARING, AND THERE IS SOMETHING UNSAID WHENEVER HE COMES ON SCREEN. SO, HOW DID YOU IDENTIFY WITH HIS SOUL?

Wow, this is the first time I have been asked about creating the soul of a character. I really do think I am like Haresh. When I read the book, I was very fascinated by

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INTERVIEW

TIFF 2020

“I remember being paid 300 rupees for my first gig as a production assistant.”

Haresh. But not many people are because he can be seen as boring. But I think there is a comedy in that, and I think what he brings to the table is hope.

The hope of a bright future, somebody who has come from the bottom and worked very hard for his way up. I identify with that a lot.

I remember as an actor, I was 17 years old. I had no money and I did not have the support of my family.

I initially wanted to sing. I remember knowing I had to start at the bottom and I remember being paid 300 rupees for my first gig as a production assistant. I was that guy in the black moving around the furniture, ironing the actor’s clothes. But I knew that I would be in front of the camera. But I know where I come from today. And I don’t want to hide that reality from anybody. That’s who Harish is and he is so proud of that fact. Everything around him has so much hope because he has so much hope. That’s what I poured into him each time I became that character. Haresh is actually modelled after Vikram’s father – Aradhana is Vikram’s sister and is also the executive producer of this. I told her I really want to meet uncle one day. But they would say he is 94, lives in Noida, so we will try. But each time they spoke about their father, I identified with him.

You won’t believe, Armin. After a month of the shoot, Aradhana said to me, you look so much like my father and you are starting to sound like him, and you have really come so close to the character that Vikram had written. That’s when I quietly congratulated myself. That’s when I realized I was in the right direction.

I think it was very internal, and I’m so happy you noticed it – he is one of those people who will not say it but he feels a lot.

AND, OF COURSE, THERE IS THE DICTION PART OF IT ALL. THE WAY YOU SPEAK, YOUR BODY LANGUAGE IS VERY DIFFERENT IN THE 1950S THAN 2020. WHAT DID YOU FIND OUT ABOUT YOURSELF IN THE PROCESS OF THE VOICE COACHING?

You know, Armin, I didn’t even realize that my sentences tend to trail off…it is unclear what my thought it towards the end. It starts off fine and then it just…the last part of the sentence is usually eaten up. Our English is “whadaryoudoinggyaar” – it is a lot of Hindi mixed with English. It is a new language and I am not looking down upon it. This is also how I talk.

But we do not speak properly.

I have now become aware that my language sounds like nothing. I have changed the way I enunciate certain things. I also finish every sentence. These are things you keep learning.

Another thing we were made aware of was that we say “ya” a lot – that was a word that was banned on set by Mira. I have not used “ya” since then. It is either “yes” or “no”, said Mira and I’m trying my best to stick to it.

But having said that, my goal is with Haresh to not have you think of his character ending with a full stop but instead, trailing off with a dot, dot, dot.

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INTERVIEW

Self-care also means having friends and allies”

PRIYANKA BOSE Interview By Armin S. Photography By Keegan Castro

I

remember meeting Priyanka Bose when she came to the Toronto International Film Festival a few years ago with Lion. She struck me as somebody who was confident in her skin and much more importantly, comfortable with herself. Her choices have been different in film, but she is truly somebody I enjoy watching on screen. When I chat with Priyanka about the choices she has made, she candidly talks about the projects after Lion: “My choices after Lion some would say have not been very prudent but it’s just what I had in front of me. I wanted to keep going with what was coming in and just explore my craft was. I wanted to keep going at my craft. Some things worked and some things are not in my hand – I was just super stoked that I had a range of things I had said yes to.”

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And what one knows about Priyanka Bose is that she has had a slew of projects that have recently come out, including What Are the Odds, Pareeksha, and Sadak 2. She says, “now some projects came out and I was like, it works but it takes time. Sometimes, you have to keep going with things for some time and bend your initial perspective. You find a nice rhythm and find out more things about yourself.”

One must think about the fact that some of these projects have come out during the current lockdown, and she says that she has really had the opportunity now to digest things: “quarantine happens and you really get the opportunity to really look at things again. It was a very good time for me to look at everything I have done in the last three years and it all started to come out. It’s been interesting to take a step back and look at all I’ve done now.”

Of course, one of the projects that recently came out is the award-winning Pareeksha which also stars Adil Hussain and Sanjay Suri. Directed by Prakash Jha, the film is a very interesting and essential perspective on the education system in India. Being a big fan of Prakash Jha and the kind of cinema and stories he brings to the forefront, I have to ask Priyanka about her rapport and experience with Mr. Jha. She chuckles and says, “Mr. Jha is a good man. Mr. Jha knows what he wants and he definitely has a style. His heart is in a good place and he gets things done. It’s very admirable what he does. He is a good friend. Before, we had a little eruption before we started on Pareeksha. Before you meet me, you don’t know if I can really adapt. But that’s my skill set. It’s what I do. If people look beyond all of this, people can know what I do – you have to give me the space. I actually have communication issues and I can be very awkward at times, with Mr. Jha, and with Adil, who is a lot of fun – it is our second film together – I really love him so much. I think it is in the edit that Mr. Jha thought I was a good catch (chuckles), that it was a well-cast film.

After the #metoo movement, a lot of the male directors, this was my observation, it was like…ahh for them. I was being very sweet and I am also a very naughty girl and I kept making fun of them but the shooting of it all was a good experience. Everything was good and even my family came to see me.

He helped me with the language. All in all, I’ll give it a ten on ten on the working experience with him.”

On the work front, I ask her how she feels about shooting resuming again in the midst of a worldwide pandemic and where her priorities lie in the future, she candidly says, “Safety first. I have to come back home at the end of the day – I have a kid, I have a family that depends on me. If I’m healthy, I can take care of them. My priority is that my projects need to be prudent. I am old enough to understand that content over a lot of money but the thing is, I also

need to think about spaces and where the shoots will take place. We really need to think about how it happened at the time it happened. I think it will take some time to understand how to get back to everything safely. One day at a time.”

With that mantra of one day at a time and the reality of the quarantine and trying to stay within our own homes as much as possible, we delve into talking about self-care, which Priyanka is paying a lot of attention to, especially vis-à-vis the realities of social media. She says, “I’m paying a lot of attention to self-care and a lot of my energy goes into that. Social media is a great platform for a lot of us and a lot of them. There’s a lot of opportunities to build your identity, who you look to for support, and who you want to support – everything is on social media. You control how you want to be seen and heard.”

And self-care otherwise? She says, “at the same time, I truly realized what self-care really meant. I’m really focusing on myself. I need to get the fog out of my mind, don’t be in my head so much, and be in the present moment. It is a difficult thing to do right now.

I find that all of us have adult ADHD right now, for some reason. I feel like therapy and focus and breathing exercises really help. Yoga is also really helping me. It is also self-care to have allies and friends who want better for you. That was for me, a revelation during the quarantine – to work on my craft but also what’s happening inside and in my head is important. Of course, we are scared and worried about what’s happening and how we will all work again but mostly, I’m really happy that it is a luxury that I have more than just a home to work on myself – it is beautiful.”

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INTERVIEW

A CONVERSATION LIKE A SCREENWRITING COURSE – with Khuda Haafiz director,

FARUK KABIR Interview By Armin S.

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INTERVIEW

377 AbNormal went on to win the best digital feature at a couple of the award functions in India last year and of course, the film was well received. The film revolved around the real life petitioners to abolish IPC section 377 and decriminalize homosexuality. With a multi-plot narrative, Faruk Kabir was successful in delivering a film that was well-structured.

I ask him when he realized he was interested in storytelling and when he realized he could be an effective storyteller. He smiles and responds, “That’s an interesting question. I think organically before realizing and recognizing the fact that I was interested in telling stories, I recognized that I should invest in time to write. While I feel like directing is one thing and writing is another, I feel that once you combine these two things, you tend to become a storyteller. I see myself in that sense that I want to tell stories. In my head, I’m a storyteller – whether it is on paper or punctuating it on screen visually as a director.”

As a reference to an inspiration, he starts talking about Shakespeare: “For me, storytelling dates back to school because we were very strong in Shakespeare and drama in school. Shakespeare has been my inspiration to write and tell drama. I mean, I’ve been to Shakespeare’s work place, I’ve done this whole tourist-y thing of where he has lived. He has had a huge influence in my life, before I even realized I was interested in telling stories. I used to write my own spoofs on Shakespeare to have fun with the material.”

W

hen I congratulate Faruk Kabir on the massive success of Khuda Haafiz, it is apparent that he is not an overnight success story. While he had his feature film debut as a filmmaker in 2010, he had already done many independent videos, documentaries and short films, with more than sixty ad films to his credit.

With different web series on different platforms and the phenomenal success of 377 AbNormal in 2019, Khuda Haafiz is yet another fantastic project he can add to his repertoire.

I ask him about his favourite Shakespeare play and candidly admit that I’m not a huge Shakespeare fan but surprisingly, both of our favourite plays of the literary genius are the same, Othello. Faruk elaborates, “there are just so many layers to the characters, so many complex emotions, so much taboo there, I feel like there was a lot of material that was a lot more real, darker, and out there regarding human emotions. It was not superficial anymore. There was also a yearning for redemption, which I feel, in big or small ways, we are always yearning to seek redemption as human beings.”

I wonder out loud with him when he first realized that writing was such an integral component of filmmaking and he goes back in time to when he was just seventeen years old: “I was barely 17 and a half when I started working after boarding school. I didn’t have many friends and I was a bit lost in Bombay. I found myself on a film set with Shah Rukh Khan and a number of stalwarts. That was good training ground for me. But both the films I worked on with Shah Rukh Khan in them, did not do so well initially. I realized that it had to do with the writing because all of the other faculties that are present for a Shah Rukh film were present – you can find the best of talent for films with him. Because for me, even as an assistant director, when they did not do well, that for me was a big turning point in my life. It is not just about technically figuring out the visuals to a film, I need to go back to paper. I need to teach myself the craft of writing.

I may have the greatest ideas but I need to take those ideas to turn them into successful screenplays.”

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INTERVIEW Writing certainly takes a lot of discipline and Faruk says that he took himself to NYFA (New York Film Academy) and enrolled himself in a screenwriting course. Since, he has clocked 8000 to 9000 hours of writing over the course of the last ten years. He can write for about eight to fourteen hours at a stretch. He talks about wanting to be better than before and not wanting to plateau. He goes onto say, “[s]o when I am writing the next script, I have my guards up and my level of focus and discipline will hopefully help me successfully tell a story on paper. I don’t think of anything – the producer, the actor – when I write. I simply want to be fluid when I’m writing. When I realized I would be an effective storyteller is when I started putting in the hours. I realized that I’ve gotten better at my structure, that it is not feeling as boring for me. Writing is so much of re-writing repeatedly and I feel I am usually not very happy on paper the first few times. That has helped me become an effective storyteller.”

With the scripting for Khuda Haafiz taking over nine months, it is clear he has the patience and wherewithal to focus and just write. I ask him what his biggest learning lesson has been when it comes to writing then. He says, “[t]he biggest revelation for me when screenwriting was that characters should not be passive characters, especially if they are your protagonists. They should be doing things. They have to be active. I ended up writing passive characters and my climax was wrong too.”

He also talks about the importance of knowing your ending first. He talks to me about his process: “[n]ow, everything I write, I write it backwards. I have to have a very crystal clear ending first. The moment I have that, the confidence I have to write that story just shoots up ten folds. Once I have my climax and I know exactly where I need to go. I want to, in an ideal scenario, be able to just write but over the years, it’s not always possible because I’m a director and I’m also a producer – I’m dabbling in a lot of projects.

But during lockdown, I think I was able to crack my first screenplay in the fastest time that I have ever before this.

There was no other distraction. I just trained in the evenings to keep myself fit and keep myself agile and mobile but other than that, I was just writing. I just trained and wrote. That was a very good experience. I am already very confident in that structure and that it will be an effective story.”

And what has worked for Khuda Haafiz have been the twists and turns and the character development which Faruk says he works on himself. He ensures he builds back stories to each character which then lead to the actions that you may see the character take on screen. So with everything said and done, I ask him what the most rewarding aspect of Khuda Haafiz has been? He smiles slowly and says, “I think it is that the people who trusted me, which is Vidyut, he has made a very brave decision to work with me. I told him to let go of everything he has worked very hard to create over the years. And it’s very brave of him to do that and to trust me that blindly. Vidyut is really happy. My producer, Kumar ji, who never interfered in the process – he and his son (Kumar Mangat Pathak and Abhishek Pathak), they are happy. They are simple and sorted people – somebody who does not praise so much and when he keeps praising the film, it makes me happy. I can see the pride in their eyes.”

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INTERVIEW

NOTHING HAPPENS IN ONE YEAR.

NEIL BHOOPALAM Interview By Armin S.

I’

ve been a fan of Neil Bhoopalam since NH10. Admittedly, while he has done some great work before that groundbreaking film also starring Anushka Sharma, I had seen his work but not necessarily registered it. Speaking to him is fascinating. He has a calming aura to him and he comes with very clear thoughts, and perhaps that is because of his years of experience. I always realize I have enjoyed a conversation when I replay it and transcribe it with a smile and a thoughtful expression on my face. That’s exactly what my conversation was like with Neil, who recently came out with Masaba Masaba, in which he plays a pivotal role (p.s. watch it!).

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INTERVIEW

YOU HAVE DONE TELEVISION, THEATRE, AND BEEN A PART OF NOTABLE FILMS AND PROJECTS. YET I READ UP THROUGH THE ARCHIVES ON GOOGLE AND FOUND AN INTERVIEW YOU DID IN 2016 IN WHICH YOU SAID, YOU WERE JUST TRYING OUT ACTING…IS THAT TRUE?

(Big smile) I was waiting for this article to boomerang and come hit me. But yes, at some point you realize, like I started acting because that’s my passion and I thoroughly enjoy that. After a while, after the evolution of mass media you realize that, people need actors and if you are half decent, that’s even better. I had realized that the demand had increased on performers, musicians, directors, and writers, so technically, I’m just a product of the evolution that is happening irrespective of my personal interests, which is performance.

I guess I am doing so much because calls keep coming, and people ask if you can test for this or that, and out of ten projects, you end up getting maybe three projects. Just generally, there is so much to life that is interesting and one life is not enough, not even the tip of the iceberg on what can be done by an individual. I did mean what I said back then (smiles).

IS IT A TOUGH PILL TO SWALLOW WHEN YOU ARE NOT SELECTED FOR THOSE OTHER SEVEN PROJECTS THEN EVEN THOUGH TODAY AN ACTOR HAS DIFFERENT AVENUES TO MONETIZE BASED ON THEIR BRAND? HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH REJECTION KNOWING THAT YOU ALSO HAVE TO EARN A LIVELIHOOD THROUGH ACTING?

That is how the cookie crumbles. What you say is right. I’m born and raised in Bombay – which is sort of the media capital of the country. I never considered it to be too crowded a space, I never considered it a competition. It is the training that I have had. What I believe is that every artist has something unique to bring to the table. I think people need to safeguard themselves by being aware of this reality, and understand timelines.

This industry is similar to any corporate structure. If you want a promotion, you have to slog for three to four years. It takes about ten years to get good at what you are doing. I think that is important and imperative. A lot of people don’t understand that. A lot of people come to Bombay and they have told their parents, who are not from media background, that listen, give me one year and nothing is going to happen in one year, dude! It is one birthday, one monsoon, one winter that has gone by. That’s all. I feel that a lot of actors need to understand that.

Every system has mathematics involved. If you want to be busy, you have to spend about this much time for auditions and training so the next month, you can get something.

APT ANALOGY. IT ACTUALLY MAKES A HELL OF A LOT OF SENSE WHAT YOU ARE SAYING RIGHT NOW AND I’VE HEARD THE STORY A NUMBER OF TIMES, WHEN PEOPLE SAY, I TOLD MY PARENTS TO GIVE ME A YEAR. HAVING SAID THAT, IS THAT A REALIZATION YOU HAVE COME TO NOW OR FROM BEFORE?

A bit of both. I think clarity on this came about four or five years ago but it never bothered me. When you are from a particular city, which is the hub, that is your hometown – things are different. I started my career on stage, so whenever I would get a call about an ad – and earlier, you would get a lot of last minute calls because one actor has backed out of a project or something. If I had shows on, I wouldn’t even encourage that conversation. I would ask them when they were planning to shoot this and I would look at my planner and say, sorry, I have rehearsals or a show lined up. So we wouldn’t even get into money talk or auditions. That clarity has been an advantage. That has kept me balanced.

SO WHO DO YOU TURN TO ON A PERSONAL LEVEL WHEN THAT VISION IS BLURRED, WHEN YOUR MENTAL STATE NEEDS SOME TLC?

I used to do a lot of homework earlier. With the people I knew, the community of theatre performers I had – some were directors of feature films, they were actors as well. I would always talk to them. The first seven years, I always gathered people’s opinions. Or the direction I was thinking towards, I would get people to understand my logic towards that direction. They would help me in my decision-making.

I always tried to talk to someone senior because at the end of the day, there is a pattern.

NEIL, NH10 STANDS OUT TO ME IN YOUR LIST OF PROJECTS BECAUSE I LOVED THE SCREENPLAY; THE SEQUENCES WERE SHOT VERY WELL. WHAT PROJECT COMES TO MIND THAT MAY HAVE CHANGED YOUR PERSPECTIVE OR HEAVILY IMPACTED YOU AS AN ARTIST?

Yes, each project I do, I invest my time into, I come out richer and smarter and with a few more people who have then seen my work. NH10 was by far one of the biggest milestones in my career. I don’t have an exact answer to the question. I’d say that movies like Shaitaan, NH10, 24 – these projects really made me understand what it is that is required of an actor. What I loved about NH10, is that I have always thought of myself as a subculture, and subculture then becomes main culture, kind of like hip hop. That particular movie managed to mix together mainstream with subculture with an amazing music score by Anirban Chakraborty. That was definitely a milestone in my career.

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DO YOU REMEMBER THE FIRST TIME YOU PERFORMED ON STAGE AND FELT COMPLETELY ELATED?

Yes, it was when the lights went out and you hear the applause because all through the show, we were doing a play called Voices, which was directed by Atul Kumar, we were in college then. We had managed to put it up for professional stage. It is not a comedy. It is pretty dark – many stories of apartheid. Once it went dark, and we heard the audience clap, I was like, “wo w, this is so cool.” All this time they were listening to everything patiently, each word the actors were saying, noticing the light changes, the change in music. The audience applies themselves much more than the storytellers. They allow themselves to be drifted.

AND WHILE THE TWO MEDIUMS ARE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT AND YOU DON’T HAVE THAT INSTANT SATISFACTION OF AN AUDIENCE REACTION, WHEN WAS THE FIRST TIME YOU FELT ELATED IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA? OR DOES THAT SENSE OF ELATION COME LATER ON?

I don’t know if I feel elation right after a shot because it is such a team effort and there are differences, as you rightly said. I do remember this one sequence in Season 1 of 24 – I think the fourth episode – me and Raaghav Chanana – according to the story, this person was running for president and there are kids there up to no good who do not recognize my character. They are breaking lights, and I start breaking lights with them, and basically saying to them, you know, you can keep doing this but I think you need to be spending your time wisely - I gave it my all and it came out very well.

NOW, MASABA MASABA – WHAT EXCITED YOU THE MOST ABOUT SHOW?

“SHAITAAN, NH10, 24 – THESE FILMS REALLY MADE ME UNDERSTAND WHAT IT IS THAT IS REQUIRED OF AN ACTOR.”

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I think it is fantastic – it has a mix of reality and fiction.

You would not have the story if Masaba Gupta did not exist. So, I like how it links together that way. I have always liked comedy, and also at a time, when a show like this can only come out when Instagram is a part of people’s lives and what words and conversations go on that App and how that affects your real life, and it really does – it is really freaky. You will be intrigued with the style of narrative but also be like a friend.

INTERESTING BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT VERY ACTIVE ON INSTAGRAM AT ALL. ANY PLANS TO BECOME MORE ACTIVE ON INSTAGRAM?

(Smiles) – not just that, but just the smartphone. I mean, it has its bonuses like how we can do this interview and connect as people regardless of geography. My argument is that smoking a pack of cigarettes comes with a warning but the phone does not come with a warning. The amount of people who have lost their lives using a smart phone is pretty high. It just consumes you. I like being present to a certain extent.

I don’t want to be consumed by an App.

INTERVIEW

GIVING TRUE ARTISTS THE CHANCE THEY DESERVE”

BY ARMIN S.

I

REMEMBER SPEAKING TO AANCHAL SHRIVASTAVA A FEW YEARS AGO. FULL OF ENERGY AND POSITIVITY, SHE STAYED IN MY MIND FOR A LONG TIME BECAUSE OF HER WONDERFUL SINGING VOICE. WHEN SHE WAS BROUGHT TO MY ATTENTION AGAIN WITH HER HUGELY SUCCESSFUL TRACK IN 4 MORE SHOTS PLEASE, I SAW HOW MUCH SHE HAD GROWN NOT JUST AS AN ARTIST BUT AS A SUPPORT TO TRUE ARTISTS.

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INTERVIEW

“EVERYONE ONLY WANTS TO PICK THOSE UP WHO ARE BIGGIES ON SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS.” Aanchal has co-founded TAA Music Label now, which was launched to provide a platform to the extremely talented, young, energetic, upcoming musicians and artists who deserve an opportunity, purely based on their phenomenal talent in order to make it big in the music industry.

First, the unique name. She laughs and says TAA is relevant for two reasons: “the name itself starts with the sur and the taal, and the taal’s first letter is “taa” from “taa, dhin, dhin”. We are also three founders, and our names are Tarun, Aanchal, Ashish, so it automatically made sense to have TAA. It all fell in place for TAA Music Label.

Such insight can only come with some personal anecdotal reference though right? She says, “Every phase, the struggle is on but the level of struggle in your life differs. Right now, where I was three years ago, I was a start-up then also – that was when I was knocking on doors and trying to get them to sing their songs. Now, I am also a start-up but after three years, I have realized that if nobody gives me songs, I can sing my own songs. I can compose my own songs. This is a new struggle that I have gotten into. The struggle to make my own songs that will suit my voice and reach out to people, and one that will touch their hearts.

I’ve had sour and sweet memories, both, to be honest. I feel that sleeping on the roads all the time is not the only struggle. The other struggle is when you have reached the people that you want to work with, they are listening to you right now, but they have not given me my song. But they all waited for me to come out with something outstanding…so I might as well become an independent artist. I think this is what I understood last year when I quit everything.”

With TAA Music Label, we are hoping many more artists will come to the forefront.

I ask her about the necessity of creating this label and she says: “I realized that independent music in our country is growing. There are many artists in our country that are brilliant and people need to hear them but they don’t have the money or the resources so they keep revolving through the same locked doors. Everyone only wants to pick those up who are biggies on social media platforms. But nobody wants to give the fresh talents a chance. I know because I have always been a singer and an artist.

What if I was not from a well to-do family? What if I did not even one rupee for myself? TAA Music Label will help those who are artists and take them on, and get them to sing, to do their kind of music, we will produce it for them.”

Having spoken to Aanchal a few years ago, I remember her phenomenal singing voice and I remember thinking of wanting to hear much more of her. She recalls that time too, and she says she remembers that struggle. At that time, she was still holding down a day job and meeting with people in the industry in the evenings. But then she decided she could not so music part-time: “October 2018, I quit everything. If I cannot earn as an artist, what is the fun in that? I put my corporate experience and artist knowledge and my own struggles to put TAA Music Label together because I understand that he or she – that artist - needs me more right now.”

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INTERVIEW

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UBER K. KHAN'S INSTAGRAM BIO SAYS 'BE REAL, BE YOU' BUT IN THIS CRAZY WORLD OF SHOW BUSINESS, IT’S TOUGH TO NAVIGATE THE LINES OF REALITY. HERE’S MY CHAT WITH ZUBER KHAN ABOUT HIS MANTRA STARTING OFF, HIS MANTRA TODAY, AND WHAT BEING REAL MEANS TO HIM.

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INTERVIEW

A QUARANTINE Q&A WITH

ZUBER K. KHAN Interview By Armin S.

BE REAL, BE YOU - WHAT DOES IT TAKE AS AN ACTOR TO BE REAL IN TODAY'S WORLD?

I guess I believe that you have to be honest with your work.

Whatever character you play, it should reflect you in the skin of the role that you are playing. I think every actor prints himself somewhat in every character he plays.

WHAT WAS YOUR MANTRA WHEN YOU STARTED OFF YOUR JOURNEY?

It’s just like it’s on me to see the water in the glass which is half filled or half empty. I always try to be positive and I feel I’m the luckiest guy in the world who is God’s child so I don’t have any Godfather because I have God on my side directly.

HAS THAT MANTRA CHANGED AT ALL? IF SO, WHAT IS YOUR MANTRA NOW?

No it’s the same - perhaps many things got added into it.

Talent mixed with core dedication and hardwork is important! Trust God, trust yourself, never lose hope and always try to attempt your best shot. I believe whatever I’ll do either in a scene in a film or television or a full film or a show, I’ll give my one hundred percent to it. Either I do and if I d, I do it fully to the end or I don’t do it – simple.

WHAT HAS BEEN THE ONE LESSON FROM A PROJECT YOU DID THAT HAS BEEN MOST VALUABLE TO YOU AS A PROFESSIONAL?

In every step of my personal life and professional life I try to learn things from my experience. Every show, every film has taught me so many lessons of life and I try to adopt them and try to grow with them in life. But yes, now I like to give limited time to one project and I have learnt to move on quickly as per my previous professional acts. I guess now I’m more professional and cut to cut with my heart’s feelings with the projects as well! I work and I forget and leave the outcome in God’s hands.

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INTERVIEW

“Be Ready to Face Rejections”

Sur Interview By Armin S.

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ur captivated our attention with his latest song, “Asar” , composed by Bharat Goel and written by Siddhant Kaushal. We talk to him about the realities of being a singer today, his current mantr

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INTERVIEW WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE A SINGER TODAY, GIVEN THE VARIOUS REALITY TELEVISION AND ONLINE PLATFORMS?

There are a lot of competitions and reality TV shows for singers these days. While that changes the game slightly, I still think in order to have longevity in a career as a singer, you need to be multitalented. You need to practise regularly and hone your craft as a singer and you need to find out what’s unique to you that’ll set you apart in the market. But you also need to have relatability. If you are looking at it as a genuine career and not just as an art form that you enjoy, you need to make sure that the audience relates to you and your work.

These days, technology being the way it is, I don’t think it’s enough to just be a singer anymore, unless you are an exceptionally good singer. These days it’s important to play an instrument or to be able to compose or produce. The more that you can bring to the table, the better prospect you are to work with. You need to have will power and the ability to just keep going. It’s very rare that people get what they want at the beginning of their career. As a singer you need to have a thick skin and be ready to face rejections.

WHAT WAS YOUR MANTRA WHEN YOU STARTED OFF YOUR JOURNEY?

Since I started singing at a very young age, I didn’t have a mantra when it came to singing. I started in satsang and went on to sing in rock and progressive when I was a teenager and that progressed into singing in Hindi, Punjabi and English. Finally I moved to India and started exploring a voice outside these genres. For me, singing was always enjoyable. It gave me a lot of peace and joy even at a young age. Even on days when I’m not feeling great, just strumming my guitar and singing a few notes changes my whole state of mind for the better. My only mantra now for singing is to enjoy when I’m singing so that it feels real and honest. I don’t want to restrict myself and I want my voice to be heard globally.

DO YOU HAVE A MANTRA NOW?

Now, my mantra is to enjoy the music that I’m doing and find where my own voice and personality fits into a song. Hindi and Punjabi are not my first languages. So whenever I look at Hindi and Punjabi lyrics, the first thing that I do is try to understand the words and get the muscle memory of my mouth and lips, singing the words and getting the pronunciation correct. Once I’m past that stage and it’s time to record the track, I forget all the technical stuff and try to insert myself into the song.

WHAT HAS BEEN THE ONE LESSON FROM A PROJECT YOU DID THAT HAS BEEN MOST VALUABLE TO YOU AS A PROFESSIONAL? WHAT ABOUT ON PROFESSIONAL LEVEL?

I’m in my 30s now and I’m fortunate to be a part of the industry since I was 18. So there have been a lot of experiences and a lot of lessons that I’ve learnt. I’ve worked with brilliant music producers, composers and musicians and each of them have taught me

something. One such experience was when I was working with Diamond and Swami was that even if you’re just playing a 'guitar part' don’t just settle if it sounds okay; make sure every element that you put inside the music is the best that you can make. Even though he was an accomplished guitarist, I would sometimes sit in the studio and watch him record the same guitar pattern 8, 10, 12 times until he felt that the required feel was captured. That’s something that I do very often now. That was evident while shooting the music video for Asar, which was shot in different countries. I am a bit of a control freak and I like to have my hands on everything that I’m working on. As much as you can do on your own, the better you become as an artiste. The lesson that I learnt while shooting this video, ideating for the concept and the musician that I worked with is to just be ready to go with the flow, don’t demand that things have to be the way you want, be willing to adjust to every situation and always overdeliver.

“ASAR” OBVIOUSLY CAME WITH IMMENSE CHALLENGES AS A RESULT OF THE LOCKDOWN. HOW DID THE VISION FOR THE SONG CHANGE IN TERMS OF CONCEPTUALIZATION BECAUSE OF THE LOCKDOWN?

Yes, the lockdown did present unusual challenges for the creation of the song. Originally when the song was being written by me, Bharat Goel and Siddhant Kaushal, we started the initial sessions while I was in Mumbai. But because of the lockdown I had to fly back to London to be with my family. Once the song was selected as a winner for the competition, we got to know that we’ll have to complete the song and a video would be made. Just for finishing the song, we had to do jam work and writing work over a series of Zoom calls. I had to set up my studio back home in Birmingham and start recording there. When we started shooting the video, we faced very different kinds of challenges. We had a limited crew and every member had to be Covid-19 tested. Our original actress tested positive for Corona two days before the shoot, which threw everything into a frenzy. We had to reschedule the shoot. I had to run around for 8-10 days looking for an actress and I was lucky enough to find Anaya Vasudha Bolar, who is the lead actress in the film. The story had to feature a couple who seemed very real and relatable. We didn’t want to emphasise that the video was shot during the lockdown, but I guess it comes across that way because the couple is seen inside an apartment throughout the video. We had to be very creative to get the shoot done. There’s a scene where Anaya is seen making a painting; that was actually painted by my dad. We had to come up with creative things that could be done at home, so that was challenging. One of the most fun things was that half of the crew was in Birmingham with me, but we were all following the directions over a zoom call that were coming from the creative team of Universal Music in Mumbai. That was a strange and surreal experience and I would never forget this shoot. The uniqueness of this experience would stay with me.

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