He’s been part of the entertainment industry for more than four decades and he’s content with the work he has done over the years. So today, when Naseeruddin Shah is approached for a project, he takes up only those that he will enjoy and be remembered for. As part of an interaction, the actor speaks about his work, the importance of doing theatre, his current favourite actors and more. Excerpts:

My interest in the last 15 years has changed. I am content with the work I’ve done. It’s been more than I ever expected. At the moment I am keen to participate in projects that I feel I will enjoy, and be remembered for. That’s why I have been doing cameos in several projects. Frankly, I am tired and I don’t want to do a role that involves two months of intense hard work anymore. I am not up to it anymore.

It wasn’t my choice to start in parallel cinema. It just happened. The first four films I did were all message films — Nishant, Manthan, Bhumika (all three by Shyam Benegal) and Godhuli (by Girish Karnad and B V Karanth). None of these were commercial movies, but did well commercially, and that worked for me. When Manthan was being made, people would say ye doodhwalo ki film kaun dekhega. But to everybody’s surprise, it was a big success. Ketan Mehta, Vinod Chopra, Saeed Mirza and Kundan Shah were all getting ready to make their films. After Manthan, I got offered roles in many commercial films, most of which I turned down because I didn’t want to do those kind of roles policeman or gangster who dies in the first reel, or honest union leader who has one scene in the film, or a doctor or lawyer. To any youngster reading this, I would like to tell them that don’t do lawyer, doctor or policeman roles. They are the most boring roles apart from elder brother (laughs). Then I got a leading part in a film called Sunayana, which I happily accepted. But the film was a flop and I was laughed at for playing the role. I was very bad in it. The fact is that I wanted to do popular cinema. I wanted to be known and successful. But that didn’t happen in a hurry. That said, if given a choice, I would invariably opt to do a meaningful film, rather than a commercial one.

People like Nawaz, Pankaj and Manoj gaining recognition shows that filmmakers are realising their worth and our film industry is finally growing up. Gajraj Rao is another great actor. Even the younger lot is very good. There’s Gulshan Devaiah, Kalki Koechlin, Radhika Madan, Alia Bhatt and Kriti Sanon; I admire these young actors. I think they are much better than the actors of my generation.

Theatre is very important, not only because it teaches you the discipline and rudiments of acting, but it’s a riyaz. It saddens me that a lot of people who gain success in films don’t return to theatre despite having started from there. I feel sad that someone like Irrfan didn’t continue to do stage, neither have Manoj, Pankaj or Nawaz. Of course, they must have their reasons and I am not criticising them. But I feel that they are losing out on something good and hope they realise that. If you feel the need to do theatre, you should keep doing it. After success on the silver screen, one may think what the use of doing theatre is. The answer is long. Kisi bhi cheez ka fayda ek din mein nahi pata chalta.

There have been no artistic people in charge of FTII for a while now. IAS officers, government officials or people who the government wishes to reward have been sent to FTII as directors, which is a tragedy. I fear the same is going to happen at the National School of Drama (NSD); there will be no theatre persons running the place, but administrative officials. While I agree that a strict administration is necessary, it’s also necessary to have a charismatic head leading an institute like FTII. What has changed over the years for students is that they have become a lot more laidback. Over the last 20 years, there have been instances where they have been overstaying at the institute to complete work that ideally should’ve been completed in three years. That’s a shame. The acting course has resumed, but acting students are left to their own devices. They are not included in any of the student exercises. This happened during my time when the separation between acting and direction students began. Now the direction students don’t even consider an acting student to act in any of their student exercises.

I think the atmosphere at a film school is conducive. But there have been several people who have never been to a film school, and have still been very successful. Filmmakers like Guru Dutt, Mehboob Khan, Vijay Anand, Bimal Roy, Gulzar and Hrishikesh Mukherjee never went to a film school, but their work is unsurpassed.

As far as cinema is considered, more people are making films that they believe in and that’s fantastic. The number of films that filmmakers believe in has gone up, as has the number of potboilers. So, the ratio remains the same. I don’t watch TV anymore, but I we’ve lost a great opportunity in making it a medium of education. As for theatre, it’s still where it used to be. People who are crazy enough will continue doing theatre.