March 8, 1999
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NASEERUDIN SHAH Mr Chameleon After success in parallel cinema and mediocrity in mainstream the actor finds his metier in urban chic. By Priya Ramani
For a while the moody Mr Shah had taken over, dispatching his trademark laugh backstage and discarding parallel cinema like a bad smell, while he zombied his way this decade through one indifferent commercial film after another: he was always good, the films were not. And all the while he cursed parallel filmmakers and the world in general. Like Prometheus bound. These days the actor who always kept one foot steadfastly in serious theatre has enough reasons to look cheery. If his latest screen appearance in cocky new-wave director Kaizad Gustad's Bombay Boys is any indication of things to come, Shah has done it again, both on screen and stage. The film is still packing in crowds, especially the capricious young. And (W)hole in the Head, a collection of monologues directed and performed by Shah and Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal opened to rave reviews in Mumbai and Delhi recently.
Shah believes he is getting better as he gets older. Govind Nihalani, who last directed Shah in Drohkaal, agrees: "I think he has matured, much like old wine. His acting has acquired greater depth." Even the infamous temper has mellowed a bit. When he has an occasional outburst-as he did when he discovered he had to act in three shows of (W)hole in the Head in a single day-he regains his equilibrium instantly. "Losing your temper is as much a habit as drinking tea or smoking cigarettes or drugs ... I'm trying to kick it." The future looks good. Apart from two films by debut directors, Mahesh Mathai and John Matthew, Shah also stars in friend Pankuj Parashar's forthcoming English movie, Spice Boy, to be shot in London. Other ventures include teaching at the National School of Drama, an NFDC film and a spy serial for Zee TV. Through this transition, too, Shah maintains his link with theatre. He plans to direct A Romance For Ruby, starring wife Ratna and colleague Mody-Kotwal. Shah is also master of the stage universe: as his tour de force performance as Gandhi in the play Mahatma vs Gandhi, which travelled in India and abroad last year, proves. And in (W)hole in the Head the actor shifts chameleon-like between three radically different characters. Shah's performances are uncannily believable. Perhaps because he has spent half his life consciously trying to be someone else. It is this seemingly effortless ability to slip under any character's skin that has always ensured his success. Shah proudly says that he has no niche: "I have managed to avoid the trap." Thus the experiment with the larger-than-life romantic hero of commercial cinema was in some ways just that-a self-imposed test of his ability to play different roles. "It was an aspect of myself which I had to test and I'm not ashamed to admit I failed," Shah explains. "One can't do everything," he adds. Grinning because he knows he has played all parts-from the libidinous villain and blind school principal to the famished villager and beefy weightlifter-picking up several trophies in the process, including a best actor award for Paar at the 1984 Venice Film Festival. Gustad says viewers came up to him at international screenings of his movie and asked incredulously, "Where has Shah been all these years?" The last few years have seen Shah involved in a series of disastrous projects including the much-hyped Cyrano, a play that opened to sharp criticism at London's West End in late-1995. "I thought this was the end of my career as an actor," he recalls. Quite an unlikely scenario for the man who has always managed to rejuvenate himself. The actor who stopped taking himself seriously after he wore a swimsuit in Tehalka, says he is a "genial old man" who is optimistic about life. In the coming year, the plan to direct his own movie may take precedence. "I've dreamt of making a funny film," says Shah. His enthusiasm stems more from a sense of contentment with his own life. "He is surer of himself as a person and actor," says wife Ratna. Having adeptly slipped under the skins of hundreds of screen characters, Shah seems finally comfortable in his own.
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Naseeruddin Shah is looking sharp. Clad in sneakers and a white tracksuit,
collar turned up, he seems ready to take on anyone. At 49, he's definitely older. His
face, which kaleidoscopes into myriad expressions, is carved into deep, world-weary lines.
His hair is close-cropped and a wiry grey. But his walk has an unmistakable-almost
rakish-bounce and that infectious throaty laugh is heard often enough. 
Lucky Naseer: there's a new buzz about the
man. It's not that he's changed-he has always been an actor par excellence-Indian cinema
has. It's now ready for him. He's taken to the just out experimental cinema of urban chic
like a duck to water. And the audience is clapping. While contemporaries like Nana Patekar
struggle through a set of prescribed roles, Shah has managed the transition from mediocre
mainstream to films like Bombay Boys with his irresistible insouciance. In Gustad's comedy
for instance, he steals the thunder as the violent yet loveable Mumbai mobster Mastana who
gets to kiss the only female lead in the movie. Even the critics have largely ignored the
"boys" and directed praise at Shah. It's easy to be evil, but to be evil and
funny is a tall order. And that's where the maniacal grin of his comes in handy. 
The 49-year-old actor
known for his roles in both parallel and mainstream cinema talks about his life, his
career and his dream of directing a film. 
