https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mj9m9CCCHEY
You have often spoken of your admiration for Dev Anand, with whom you shot your first Swami Dada film. Did you catch any of his ways, his style or his flirtatious character?
When I was acting, during the first few films, I had a lot of him in me. When I sang a song, I always felt Dev saab around me. My mom made my hair like Dev Saab, so from childhood I liked her. It is almost automatic that in me there will be ways of making him, for sure.
Your first film as a main protagonist was Hero in 1983, a debut with the likes of Shammi Kapoor and Sanjeev Kumar. What are your memories of sharing screen space with legends?
They were like my superheroes standing in front of me. I had no idea how to react, I was just myself, the way I am, and they accepted me as their family. They made me feel at ease. With Shammi Kapoor, I know Aditya Raj Kapoor, her son. He is my friend. So I went to his house and they were definitely like family to me. But with Hari Bhai (Sanjeev Kumar) it was like ‘Wow!’. He spoke to me in Gujarati and that’s how we broke the ice, there was also Bindu ji. I thought they were all so beautiful that they opened their arms for someone who had just walked in. That’s why I love all newcomers and treat them like my own children.
Is it true that after you became a star, you continued to live in your chawl and the directors came to your house to tell you about the movies?
Yes, they would come and tell me the scripts in my chawl, sitting outside on a drum, which I had made as chairs. If I had to answer the calls of nature, they would sit there waiting for me, while I would go to the potty or take a shower. I stayed in my chawl until 4-5 years after the release of my first film. I felt happy there. And all my friends came, my mother cooked for them, they loved her food.
Anil Kapoor recently confessed that most fans would come to get your autograph, but you would slide it to him first to sign, even when Shah Rukh Khan was a newcomer to King Uncle, you pushed him forward to take photographs. with fans, and announces it’s the next big thing …
I’m lucky, these were my friends. Anil is my senior, Shah Rukh is my junior, but for me the senior-junior never mattered, they were all my friends, my colleagues. And it was so embarrassing to sign before anyone else, because Anil Kapoor is my eldest, he can say anything … that people didn’t come to him, but he is my eldest, so first he has to sign and then I’ll sign I. It is my treasure.
Gift jaan hai mere, mile na mile, jab milenge toh aisa milenge ki kuch hua hi nahi (They are both my friends for life. Regardless of whether we meet or not, when he reaches him it’s as if we only met yesterday). So we are like friends, who don’t have to sit down, meet and call each other for any function or other. When we are together, it’s always nice.
Sanjay Dutt recently said in an interview with ETimes that actors nowadays are too insecure to share screen space compared to your time in the 80s and 90s. What’s your take on this?
I think they’re still making movies with three heroes and movies with two heroes. As for insecurity, some people have it for sure, others don’t care, but Sanju Baba and I have never had any problems with each other.
Lines agar hard ho jata tha, so I would say tu hi bol de (When the dialogue was hard, I let him say it). I was saying to Baba, I can’t remember this sentence, why don’t you say it and then Subhash Ghai would come in and say: ‘Director main hoon, tum nahi’. We had no problems and I think even nowadays there are people working in films with two and three heroes, these things are happening. My son is doing Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, with Akshay Kumar, so people are working in movies with two heroes.
Insecurity toh rahegi chhote, kissi kissi ko hota hai, kissi kissi ko nahi hota hai (Insecurity is evident in our profession, some have it some others don’t), it’s a normal feeling.
Job pe jate hai teen chaar jan, toh dekhenge ki uska kaam achha hai, mere nahi, woh insecurity toh rehti hai (In our work, 3-4 actors work in proximity and then realize that the other person is much better off, that’s when insecurity comes into play).
Kisi ke pair kaatke, apneko lamba nahi bananeka (You can’t climb higher by pushing others down), compliment each other and you’ll be beautiful.
Ek dusre ko understand karke chalein toh zindagi achhi chalti hai (Life works best when people compliment each other). Even on the big screen, compliment each other,
uska hai toh scene the way he says it, you gotta react, if he slaps you, you gotta take the slap,
insecurity toh apne mein tha hi nahi, aur rahega bhi nahi (I’ve never felt insecure about my co-stars and never will).
Mujhe lagta nahi ki aajkal ke bachchon mein hai, thoda thoda sab mein hoga, but it is normal, it is a normal phenomenon, bhidu (I don’t think modern children have insecurity, they might feel it sometimes, but it is normal).
Being an outsider, working with so many famous guys, have you ever felt like you don’t want to share screen space with others due to comparisons?
No, I’ve never felt like this. In fact, I was always happy when my colleagues had the strongest role, it took the weight off my head. Samjha? (Take it?)
Devdas mein Devdas Shah Rukh baba bane, uske sar par poor bhoj hai, mein toh Chunni Babu hoon, Mission Kashmir mein villain hoon (Shah Rukh was Devdas, the burden was on his head, I was just playing Chunni Babu, I was the villain in Mission Kashmir), so I prefer to be in the background rather than being a favorite.
Unees bees ka farak nahi padta hai (It’s a question of small distinctions).
You were one of the few actors happy to play negative roles, like recently in Sooryavanshi. What excites you about these characters?
Nothing excites me more than playing a good, bad or ugly character as long as I play him. I keep saying, I’m like a potato, you put me in any vegetable and I’ll be fine.
You moved from movies to short films, then diversified further with OTT with shows like OK Computer. Is it important to keep reinventing yourself?
In my case you don’t think, it just happens. The writers are the ones who think about the characters, they reinvent you. It’s up to you to decide if you like it, if you do it or not.
Jo likhkar dete hai, woh kehte hain ki aapko dekhkar maine ek kahaani likhi and they tell me that I fit well into their story. So it’s up to them. All I can do is say yes or no. It depends on our understanding,
ki yeh role karna chahiye ya nahi (should I do the role or not). It is the writers and technicians who made me who I am today.
Your image has been synonymous with your fashion and your sense of style. In fact, in 1994, you were even credited as a costume designer in Rangeela. What does fashion mean to you?
What I was doing is
paise hote nahi the, toh uss waqt Khadi Bhandar mein sabse khoobsurat, saste, sundar, tikauu aur
nice clothes milte il (I had no money and at the time Khadi Bhandar had the most beautiful and cheapest clothes). The beautiful things were done with khaki fabrics, so we went there, gathered the fabric and sewed the pants. Then we painted on the fabric,
yeh karte karte kapde bann ne lage, aur jo comfortable laga woh pehna (that’s how we made different dresses and I always wore what I was comfortable in). It’s about how you behave. You can wear anything, but it’s how you take it away that makes the difference.
