Shreyas TalpadeCourt Martial

Rishira Ganguly grills Shreyas Talpade to find out more about Bollywood and it’s quirks.

Though you are a powerhouse per- former, you are considered as one of the under-rated actors of Bolly- wood. Why do you think you’ve got this tag?

(Laughs) I don’t know… I guess I must be lacking in some other department probably… maybe in marketing. I’m a good actor but maybe not a great marketer and that could be one of the reasons I’m considered “un- der-rated”. But I guess it’s always a good space to be in where people think that you have potential and it is not being used. So, I guess I’m waiting for that day where there will be some filmmaker who will tap my potential and abilities fully someday. Shreyas Talpade

After your debut film Iqbal and Dor, we haven’t seen much of your serious side? Why?

I’ll tell you what happened after Iqbal and Dor… I was considered more of a serious actor … So I was typecast as more of a serious actor at that point in time and then after that there was a huge wave of multi-starrer comedies being made like all these franchises that we have today of Golmaal or Dhamaal or Housefull. I was called for an audition for one of the successful franchises today and the director very categorically told me, ‘You are a very serious actor, I don’t know how good you’ll be in comedy’ and he didn’t really cast me at that point in time. So, I took it up as a challenge to prove people wrong, I had to prove (to) people that I could do comedy equally well as I could do serious and that is the time Rohit Shetty gave me a break with Golmaal …and that actually changed a lot of things for me. People got to know that I could do comic roles well and that’s how I got cast in more comedy films …but then suddenly people forgot the fact that I have done some serious films as well. Now I think, it’s a challenge for me to prove that I am a serious actor as well. An actor must prove at every point in time to the audience that he is versatile. Whenever they consider ki acha yeh kar sakta hai ki nehin kar sakta, that is the time you’ve got to reinvent and prove that yes, you can do that too.

You’re mostly casted in an ensemble cast like Golmaal series or Houseful. We don’t see you in lead or solo starrers? Why?

Golmaal is actually more of a family entertainer. The first Golmaal was something that I loved to and after that the entire team was more like a family so whether it is second, third, fourth, fifth, eighth… whatever it is, Golmaal, we have to be a part of, because we love to be a part of that franchise. Houseful was something that I did because my friend Sajid Khan wanted me to help him out at that point in time. He was actually a little stuck with the casting and he had already announced his shooting dates, So he requested me if I could help him out 47

I’m a good actor but not a good marketer.” “

in Houseful 2. As far as the other films are concerned, there have been a couple of solo starrers which unfortunately didn’t really work at the box office. Films like Kamaal Dhamaal Malamaal or Bombay to Bangkok didn’t really work big time at the box office so that’s the reason people don’t know more about them. Films which worked were Houseful 2 and Golmaal series so people know me more because of those films. But I guess it just a matter of time… I need just that one film which people connect to, and then I’ll be back in the race of solo films.

How was it working with Ajay Devgn and Rohit Shetty for the Golmaal series?

It’s always fun to work with these guys. They are known as big time pranksters - Ajay bhai especially. A lot of incidents kept happening for example we were doing the photo-shoot for Golmaal Again and we had these firecrackers during the shoot and I remember I was a little tired because of my continuous back-toback shoots. So before my shot, while chatting with Parineeti, I happened to doze off a bit. Meanwhile Ajay Bhai very stealthily came from behind and burst a cracker right behind me and that completely startled me. So these kind of things are very regular on the sets of the Golmaal series. But what is most amazing is the kind of chemistry that all of us share, the kind of bonding that all of us have. I think that is very evident in the film too. People connect with the films because somewhere they connect with the friends in those films and they connect because we have that kind of chemistry between all of us.

With the film Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga, a lot of people have started talking more openly about the depiction of the LGBT community in films. You have cross dressed for your role in Paying Guests. Do you think that the LGBT community needs more representation in films?

Of course, we are pretty much openly talking about this now, however, earlier things were considered taboo. But now, not only films but the audience too have accepted this and they’re pretty open about the whole thing. It’s not only films, if you look at web series also, almost every series has some aspect of the LGBT community and they discuss it pretty openly, especially series like Made in Heaven. So when we have filmmakers like Zoya Akhtar handling a particular subject in a very aesthetic manner, things work better..

If you were re-scripting your favourite role from any of your films, which character would you do it on?

I have been lucky to work with various directors from different schools of film making - right from Nagesh Kukunoor to Farah Khan to Rohit Shetty to Sajid Khan to Shyam Benegal sir and a lot more who have tried to get the best out of me in each film. So, I don’t think I would really want to re-script… Yes! In terms of screenplay and storytelling maybe certain films have gone wrong or not really appealed to the audience in the manner that we expected it to so in that aspect, I would like to change… But I guess my personal characterization? No I don’t think I would really like to change anything in that department because the directors have told me how to portray the character and I have tried to portray it to the best of my ability. In fact, people don’t have any complaints about my performance but yes, they may feel something is lacking in the story or screenplay which didn’t really appeal to them but not with the character per se. …I think, it’s a challenge “ for me to prove that I am a serious actor.”

The audience is always right. “

So if they didn’t like my film there must be something wrong.”

Your film Setters had a brilliant storyline but the critics did not like it? Why?

Yes! I completely respect their opinion. If they felt like that then there must be certain things which didn’t really appeal to them. People felt that in the second half of the film things maybe got a little repetitive or a little monotonous. I feel the audience is always right. They will go and watch a film only if they connect with it. So if the film didn’t have those kind of numbers at the box office then yes, there was probably something wrong. It’s our duty to make sure that we accept it gracefully and make sure that we don’t repeat the same mistakes in the next film.

You are appreciated for your impeccable comic timing, do you enjoy this genre?

Comedy is something that I enjoy personally. My very close friends also know that I tend to crack jokes when I am with them. That is one of the reasons why I am chosen for comedy scripts. Apart from that, as an actor personally, I prefer doing varied roles so that’s why I was very excited about my role in Setters which was one of the first grey characters that I’ve portrayed on screen. So I was really excited and I really wanted that film to work. As an actor, you always want to keep varying your roles otherwise you will get bored of doing the same thing over and over again.

You once tweeted about leaving Bollywood, why?

(Laughs) No no no… that was actually one of the challenges in one of the reality shows that Kunal, Tusshar and I were a part of a reality show as guests. There was this one segment where the two challenged me that let’s see if you can tweet something like this - I’m leaving Bollywood. So, I took up the challenge and I tweeted this and some people felt that I was genuinely quitting. I don’t think I’ll be quitting Bollywood - this is the only place I will be - whether I succeed or fail.

Regional films are not given so much importance as commercial cinema. Why do you think the Indian audience is attracted towards the glitz and glamour of Bollywood more?

The reach of Bollywood is worldwide though certain regional films is also seen worldwide for example Tamil and Telegu films are appreciated around the world. Sitting in Mumbai, we are not really aware of the kind of reach that those films have but they have phenomenal fan following and reach worldwide, even in places like Japan and China. But other regional films, have pretty limited market. For example, Marathi films the market is mostly in Maharashtra. Now it is growing with certain films like Sairat doing well at the box office. Sairat did almost 100 crores which was unheard of for a Marathi film. It showed the kind of potential that the Marathi film can achieve. But it’s a gradual process so we need to give it that kind of time and we need to make sure that we encash on the success of a particular film and build it up from there. So, it’s a huge responsibility but there are a lot of fantastic film makers in regional cinema and they are trying their best to give it that kind of platform and commercial success that it deserves.

How different do you think is the Marathi film industry from Bollywood?

There’s not much of a difference. The only difference is in the budgets. A Hindi film definitely has more budget, even a medium budget Hindi film will make around four to five crores but a good Marathi film will still have a budget of around 3 to 3.5 crores. When you select a particular script, you always think of the budget for a Marathi film and then if it goes over a particular figure, you decide to just hold it back and maybe not do it.

Will we see more of your directorial side after your film, Poster Boys?

Yes, you will! I am working on a particular script right now and hopefully, if things go well then I might direct a film next year.

How was it working with Sunny Deol in Poster boys as well as in Bhaiyaaji Superhit?

Wonderful! He’s a sweet guy to work with. I have been a huge fan of Sunny paaji right from the time of Betaab and Ghayal. We’ve grown up watching his films so it was a huge honour for me to direct him in Poster Boys. I think he is one of the most obedient actors. Though he has a filmography (of) maybe more than what my age is but still he was very patient with me. He would give me that kind of respect that a director deserves and he would never really interfere or question my ability. That gave me a lot of confidence to do what I was doing. So, I had a great experience working with him and Bobby! The web is a fantastic platform for film makers. “

It’s a great bridge between TV and films.”

How do you balance your personal and celebrity life?

I guess everybody does that in some way or the other so I have been pretty chilled out all along. I’ve always given priority to my family and I never really wanted to lose out on my identity. As an actor, there are odd working hours, you keep travelling, you are not there for most of the family functions but whatever time we have, we try and spend it with the family. So, I think my family, my wife also know the fact that if I’m in town, then yes, I’m going to be there but if I am shooting, then I’m completely immersed in my work. As long as your family understands you it makes a lot of things very simple and easy

You recently did a web series called Baby Come Na with Alt Balaji. How different is the experience of working for the digital media than working in Bollywood?

The web is a fantastic platform for film makers. It’s a great bridge between TV and films. There are certain things which you cannot do on TV and there are certain scripts which are too lengthy for films. So, I think web is that medium that gives you that platform where you can experiment with the scripts and experiment with the characters and can be a little more indulgent and do what you really want as you visualise it. There are no limitations and luckily, there is no censorship as well. Film makers can go all out and do exactly what they want.

What are some of the future projects you’re currently working on?

I am most probably going to be doing a horror comedy which is yet untitled and then I will do one biopic film. Post that, I will be producing one film in Marathi and also planning to do one web series this year. But apart from that, I am writing a film which I will be directing.