I don't like Hindi cinema: Naseeruddin Shah

He's one of the finest actors of our film industry but doesn't like to be associated with it. I am a bit nervous when I meet Naseeruddin Shah in his Bandra home, not just because I have always admired his work – be it his films, plays or book – but also because I have heard that he is a bit moody. We sit down to chat – he, confident and I, anxious – and as the conversation flows, I know I am in the right room, and talking to him was never so easy... Excerpts from the interview...

Have you seen happy New Year?
Yes I have and I think it is absolutely paisa vasool movie. I love Farah's (Khan) movies. I liked all her films. So yes I am a bit biased towards her. And of course there is Vivaan.

Do you miss working in the movies with which you started your career?
Yes, I do. I miss working with those directors. I miss working with Shyam Benegal.

Then why don't you work with him?
Shyam babu seems to be angry with me. He doesn't give me films any more. I would have loved to work in his films like Sajjanpur and Well Done Abba... But there are good directors now. There is Anurag Kashyap... Dibakar Bannerjee, the most exciting filmmaker. So there are a lot of filmmakers around who I think will survive if they don't succumb to the lure of casting stars and I fear they will (laughs).

But there always have been actors and stars...
True. Stars act in certain kind of films and actors work in certain kind of films and the two don't mix.

But that happened in your time also...
Very much in my time. If you see a film called Sunaina you will understand what I am talking about (chuckles).

You said you like Anurag's movies but you are not working so much in movies...
I would love to work with the new filmmakers. I would love t work with Dibakar, Neeraj Pandey, Rituparno Ghaosh... sadly is no more but I would have loved to work with him. However, they don't ask me to work with them. What should I do. But really pleased that some of the younger people do... with whom I am working...

Like Homi Adjania...
Yes Homi... I am doing a short 10 minute film with Adhiraj Bose, and one with Ritesh Batra... and Welcome Back...

It is absolute masala movie...
Yes and working in Welcome Back was great fun... because I am the only villain in the film, the others are all heroes. So they are all fighting for space with each other.

You are stepping into Feroz Khan shoes...
Yes, I loved Feroz Khan. He was real cool gentleman. I really liked him. So it's flattering to get a role which Feroz bhai would have done. He once called me for a film which he was making for Fardeen, his first film... to play a father. He was a very charming man. And we chatted about this and that, Afghanistan and Iran and all that. And then he said he wanted me to play Fardeen's father. I said, 'look I have been watching your career', and I wasn't bullshitting it. I was following his career since his first movie which was called Reporter Raju. He was the winner of the film contest along with Dharmendra, Manoj Kumar and Dheeraj Kumar and after that year Rajesh Khanna won. So I told Feroz bhai that I have seen your rise from supporting actor to a superstar so would you accept the role of father if I offered this role to you. So he got up and hugged and said 'Oh brother, I like that. I know what you are talking about.. But then he asked if I had really seen those films and I told him, yes I had. I have even seen a film called Samsun where Dara Singh was the lead with Feroz Khan in the supporting role. So I think it feels good to replace Feroz Khan. And apart from that I am doing a film called Breaking made by a filmmaker called Annu Menon. She has made one film before, I don't know which one though.

You made a movie in Malyalam with Mammootty once. Would you work in another regional movie if given a chance?
No because it is impossible to act in a language which you don't know. Mammootty and Mohan Lal were great actors in Malyalam but failed in Hindi unless Mohan Lal tried to do a film with Kannada accent or Malyalam accent... Even Kamal Haasan who is extremely skillful actor, failed in Hindi. It is same problem we have speaking South Indian language. Many Hindi speaking people have made it as villains in South Indian films but it's because it doesn't matter there who the villain is or somebody dubs for them. Mukesh Rishi and Ashish Vidyarthi etc. But no North Indian man has been accepted as leading man in South and vice versa. South Indian women have always been great actresses we had and North Indian girls have made it big in South but no men made it big... It's strange.

Why would you say this is...
It is a question of taste I would say. We like the South Indian women and they like North Indian women and we don't like South Indian men and they don't like North Indian men. That's it.

After Khuda Ke Liye you didn't do any Pakistani movie?
I did one after that. It was called Zinda Bhaag which was released in Pakistan but not in India. It was in Punjabi. I hope it is released in India once the relations between the countries are improved.

Will you ever direct a movie?
No, in capital letter. (laughs)

It always seems that you have something against Hindi cinema...
I don't like it. (laughs)

But hasn't Hindi cinema made you what you are?
Sorry to disagree with you, but Hindi cinema has not made me what I am today. It is the other kind of cinema which made me what I am... Some of it was in Gujarati, some in Bengali, some in Kannada and some of it was in English. The films I did in the 70s. So Hindi commercial cinema never knew what to do with me. They could not slot me anywhere. I am grateful to Hindi cinema for giving me the opportunities it gave me. It has given me a good life, it has exposed me to a wider audience. It's not my fault if I don't like most of the movies which are called popular Hindi cinema. Just like other people don't like movies I do. I am saying we should make better movies. Just because we have better photography and better editing it doesn't make our movies better. The best movies were made in 50s...

The black and white era...
Yes, colour has done the most damage. Suddenly it became very easy to make movies. As soon as colour happened you could keep your hero and heroine in purple clothes and shoot in Kashmir and the movie was made! You notice the quality of the story, lyrics, music, acting... everything nosedived from the 70s onwards. The wholesale stealing from Hollywood began which is still continuing. Now we can't steal so we remake movies, the movies which should not have been made in the first place. What's the point of remaking Katha or Masoom or Agneepath for that matter? We are just admitting that we have run out of ideas so we call it remake. I am waiting for remakes of Gunga Jamuna, Mother India... So that's the reason I don't like Hindi cinema. It is hard to come by a film which I find truly entertaining. Mary Kom I think recently was a great movie...

You didnt like Finding Fanny...
I am not sure what I think of Finding Fanny. I enjoyed doing it though. I will watch it a year later and then see how I like it?

How it working with younger actors?
They are really great. Deepika, Arjun, Vidya Arshad...they are much better than what we were at there age. They are better informed, they have more exposure, they are very smart. I really like them and really love working with them. It is great fun. I am looking forward to working with Arshad again.

What about others?
Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Irfaan Khan are their own kind of actor. Am so happy to see the progress they have made. They have seen very long struggle and it did not embitter them. They both emerged shining. I wouldn't categorise them at all. I hope the film industry knows what to do with them. Because pigeonholes actors. Ye to hero lagta hai...

Do you think theatre in India has made progress?
Theatre is same it was. It hasn't expanded. The world has expanded so there are more theatres and there are more people doing plays but nothing has changes in the theatre world. You still cant make a living from it. Except in Marathi commercial theatre. But it will survive forever because there will be few crazy people who will work for it, to whom it matters.