BHARATI PAWASKAR
The lively ‘In Conversation’ session peppered with witty Adil Hussain’s sense of humour and humble Prakash Jha’s modesty, allowed moderator Vikramjit Roy to coax the duo into sharing their experiences of ‘Bringing real life into reel life’ at IFFI 2019.
While performing as an actor, where does one draw a line? Where does the character merge with the actor and makes him deliver a befitting role?
“This happens when performs truthfully. It rarely happens that an actor goes beyond the character to the point that the director has to do modifications in the script. But there’s no fixed recipe for acting. It has to come from within. The best acting is no acting. If you can make the audience feel that it’s not an act that is the real acting,” feels director Prakash Jha who has crossed the line to venture into acting space.
Adil Hussain, on the other hand is of the opinion that a good actor is one who is not recognized who he is in real life. For him to accept a film, the story has to be accepting and credible.
“There should be purity in it and urgency to share the story. That is the important part of role. There is nothing like a short role. A role is a role. And it only matters how deeply it has been conceived. Only that makes sense,” stated ‘Life of Pi’ fame Adil who has worked in Indian cinema, including art house cinema, mainstream Bollywood and international cinema.
Speaking on what could be a good biopic, Jha highlighted, “One which narrates a good, engaging story, keeping the audience hooked. It must be inspiring too. A biopic is also a story. It may have some real life, some elements of fiction but it cannot be thrust upon the audience. Every story has its strengths as well as weaknesses; good and bad elements “ but it should be meaningful.”
While answering a question about his social entrepreneurship and his films, Jha cleared the air, saying, “As far as films are concerned, I don’t have something against the society. I am not for or against any ideology.
There’s no ideology that I support or detest. I welcome everything. Change is inevitable. It is one thing that no one can stop. Society, politics, relationships, educational systems “ everything changes. It reciprocates with the needs of the society. There was a time when humanity, history, pure sciences took back space. Now, the interest of learning humanity is slowly getting back. It’s a good sign.”
Speaking on how to switch in and out of a role, Adil admitted, “I am a fanatic method actor. I don’t prepare. I try not to think about the role I am going to play. I let it happen, instead of making it happen. Right thing happens at the right time,” he said.
