Roshmilla Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; January 30, 2014)

He just walked away with the Filmfare Best Actor Award for Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, but Farhan Akhtar admits that when he entered the industry, more than a decade ago, acting was not on his agenda. “When I started out I was very categorical that I only wanted to write, direct and produce films with my friend and partner Ritesh (Sidhwani),” he says. 

And that was how it was till early 2007 when Abhishek Kapoor came to him with the role of Aditya Shroff in Rock On!! By then he had proved his mettle as a director with films like Dil Chahta Hai, Lakshya and Don--The Chase Begins and wowed by the script, Farhan said yes to his first turn in front of the camera because "it was a world and music he could identify with". 

His performance as Aditya, a musician who gives up the mike before returning to his true passion, was well received. So when his sister, Zoya Akhtar, confided that she was shelving her dream debut Luck By Chance because her seven-year-long search for a hero proved futile, Farhan offered to step into the shoes of both the leading man and the producer. 

Karthik Calling Karthik in 2010, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara in 2011 followed-- this time Zoya had written the role of Imran with him in mind. Then Bhaag Milkha Bhaag came last year and suddenly, Farhan isn’t just an applauded actor but a saleable one too. 

This year he’s working in three films. Shaadi Ke Side Effects opens on February 28. Bombay Samurai with Kareena Kapoor and without Samurai swords will roll soon, and Raees co-starring Shah Rukh Khan will follow. There’s also a third film with Zoya, Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s film with Amitabh Bachchan to be directed by Bejoy Nambiar and the Rock On!! sequel. 

Farhan’s plate is piled high which is perhaps why he’s announced a break from direction for two years. But, he has two fully developed scripts—one which he has written and another he has cowritten—along with a third one which yet to be completed. “In fact, there are several scripts being developed. By the year end I should decide what I want to do. Then I’ll revisit the scripts,” he says. 

For now he can enjoy the awards coming his way for Bhaag Milkha... Farhan says that the biggest challenge was to remove his urbane upbringing from his body language before entering Milkha’s world and era. 

“Had Rakeysh Mehra approached me earlier, I'd have said no, but my collective experiences lead me to believe I could pull it off. Today, I like to reinvent myself with every role rather than be a stereotypical actor who comes up in the list of names when a particular role is being discussed," he points out. 

The effort left many, including the athlete whose life he recreated, entranced, and a few, like Naseeruddin Shah, critical. Bring up the criticism and Farhan shrugs, “Every person who watches a film is entitled to his or her opinion. That’s how he feels and I respect his opinion for being his opinion.” 

In comparison to Bhaag… Shaadi Ke Side Effects, whose trailer his younger daughter Akira finds hilarious, is a simpler film. And 14 years of marriage and bringing up two children, was enough to prepare him for the role. 

But then, as he points out, marriage is a very “individual experience” though he did felt a tinge of empathy when his character is awaiting the birth of his child. 

“For every parent the first born is like precious porcelain which can break easily. It’s the first time you are thinking of someone beyond yourself and the sense of responsibility can make us overprotective till the second one comes along and you realise that children can take care of themselves,” he says. 

He himself was an independent child who hated staying home. "Mumbai in the 70s and 80s was a different city with hardly any cars. Bandra was a promenade, we could run on the streets without our parents getting stressed,” he says. 

Talking of parents will his production house, Excel Entertainment, produce a film based on the script his dad Javed Akhtar is writing. “If he’d like Excel to produce it, we will. He's been an integral part of everything we’ve done since the beginning. I’m sure he’ll give us a narration when he’s ready,” Farhan smiles. 

He has remade Salim-Javed’s Don and built it into a franchise. Is he eyeing another remake now? “As a script Deewar is really good. But there are no plans to remake it,” he says. Will he be taking cues from Shashi Kapoor’s turn as a cop in the film, for his role as a policeman in Raees? “Rarely do you come across a role that has not been played before but it’s dangerous to replay it. The modern cop's image is very different from that of his 70s counterpart,” he asserts.