Spotting Saiyami Kher shopping in a narrow lane in Janpath, which is known for its silver jewellery and ethnic clothes, was a surprise for many visitors and sellers. “Ye toh woh hi hain na jo abhi cricket wali movie mein aayi hain?” was their reaction as they approached her for selfies. The actress, who was in the capital recently, took some time to take a round of Janpath and reminisce about the time she spent in Delhi before making her acting debut.

Saiyami says that Delhi is the place where she fell in love with acting and that is why the city will always remain close to her heart.

“I have very fond memories of Delhi. Before starting to shoot for Mirzya, I was living here for four months. I was staying in an apartment in Greater Kailash and doing an acting workshop. I came here at a time when I was still an aspiring actor and used to hear all kinds of toxic things. At that time I came to Delhi and met Dilip Shankar and Adil Hussain, who are my acting gurus. They guided me in the right direction. So Delhi was my acting school, I stayed here for months, learning acting and horse riding. I still come here every year to do workshop with my gurus,” says Saiyami.

Saiyami says that she did all touristy things when she came to Delhi before making her acting debut. “I visited India Gate, Qutub Minar, went to Old Delhi and many restaurants in Khan Market. At that time Shabana maasi (Shabana Azmi) was an MP and had a home here. We used to go to Lodhi Garden and I find that part of Delhi very beautiful. I used to shop a lot from Dilli Haat. My mom would come here and we would shop for mojaris and bags and my sister is very fond of handloom stoles and I used to take her entire stock from Delhi. I explored Delhi in those four months I was here. After that I have mostly been coming here for shoots. I shot for Breathe here and some parts of Special OPS. I will be coming here in mid-October for another shoot,” she says.

Saiyami has been getting a lot of appreciation for her last release Ghoomer and she says that it is overwhelming that so many women are loving the movie, where she plays a paraplegic bowler. 

“Ghoomer is closest to my heart. It has been a life altering film for me. I haven’t received this kind of love ever. It is surreal. Everyone who has watched it has loved it. Unfortunately, it came at a time when Gadar 2 and Jawan were running in theatres and we didn’t get enough screens but we still survived. It is surprising how much love we are getting from women, some 80-year-old women, some mothers of teens. They tell me they want their children to watch the film. A lot of schools are doing screenings of the film and it feels special,” says Saiyami.

For Saiyami, celebrations started before the festive season kicked off as her movie Ghoomer received appreciation from the audience. She says that now she is looking forward to spending some time with family during the festive season.

She says, “Be it Diwali or New Year’s, the festive season for me is all about spending time with family. Honestly, festivals are the only time we get to be at home, eat ghar ka khaana. I don’t even feel like dressing up a lot on festivals when I am home, as that is something I do all the time as part of my profession.”

Adil Hussain, 52, is born as a Muslim, but believes in an inner spirit practising meditation at home. His full name is Khandkar (meaning tutors) Mohammed Adil Hussain, named after his ancestors who were private tutors to the emperors. He lives in Delhi in Greater Kailash I, in a house that is next to a forest and does not move to Mumbai as he cannot afford a similar house here. He is calm, loyal and honest with high empathy for others and much like the meaning of his name 'Adil' that means 'the just one', he gets angry and irritated when he sees things going wrong around him. Nothing can make Adil change his mind on a film other than the script, which has led him to work with some of the greatest directors, be it Ang Lee (Life of Pi) or Gauri Shinde (English Vinglish). In Prawaal Raman's upcoming thriller Main Aur Charles, Adil portrays the character of Amod Kant, the extremely well-known and honest investigating officer who was responsible for Charles spending 11 additional years in jail post his famous 1986 jail-break. He talks to Bombay Times about his love for Randeep Hooda, his respect for Amod Kant and why Irrfan is the best actor in India today. Excerpts:

Talk about your journey of becoming an actor?
I come from a town of Assam called Goalpara. I realised how beautiful it is only after I came to Delhi as my house in Goalpara was on the river Brahmaputra next to a hill. Assam has a culture of theatre where in every village, people do theatre. I started acting (both in English and Assamese) from when I was seven and would participate in my school plays every year. It was when I was in Class VIII that I decided that I wanted to be an actor. While getting recognition is what actors work for, actually the most important part of acting for me was how I enjoyed acting. My father was a headmaster of a high secondary school and could not afford to pay for my learning to act. But then, I came to know about NSD, possibly the only institution in the world that pays you to learn. Funded by the Central government, they not only pay for your education and expenses but also pay you some money while you are there. That's how people from my background could come and study there, otherwise we would not have been able to do that. I was already doing regional television and films at the age of 17, post which I joined NSD, so I gave my first autograph when I was 17. Post NSD, I got a scholarship to learn acting in England, post which I returned to India to train again for nine years before I did my first play In Othello with my teacher Barry John. The play was made into a film that was just released in Europe for the festivals. I then got my first big Hindi break in Abhishek Chaubey's Ishqiya, in which I played Vidya Balan's husband.

Who do you love the most in the world?
My mentor since past 15 years Dilip Shankar (who is also an international casting director who cast me in Life of Pi). I lost my father a few years ago, but Dilip is more than a father to me. He is my guide and made me come out of all my difficult times. I am sitting here because of him not just because he cast me in his films, but he has been responsible for my emotional and spiritual growth.

What does Dilip Shankar like the most in you?
I guess, that I am a good obedient student and that I take instructions without judging why the person is asking me to do what he is.

Which was the lowest period emotionally he helped you get out of?
I think 1998 was both my lowest or you could say my highest period. I met and fell in love with this woman in Amsterdam while I was studying there, who was half Dutch and half Indian. I was planning to move to India to train in acting with my teacher in a place that did not have electricity or running water. I knew it would be difficult for her to stay with me in such conditions but she insisted and we moved to India. She brought out the worst in me and while till then I had been this nice, friendly and helpful guy who never shouted at anybody ever, I got introduced and exposed to my other side, the mad, angry side. And while I am grateful to her for showing me that side of me that nobody likes of themselves, I went through an emotional turmoil to the point of almost losing my mind. That's when I met Dilip Shankar.

Your wife Kristen Jain too is half Indian. What makes you fall in love with half Indians?
Yes, my wife Kristen is half Jain and half American. I realised much later that I am a mixed Indian myself as my maternal grandfather was from Iraq and maternal grandmother, a mix of Assamese, English and Italian so may be somewhere that explains my attraction to women who were half Indians.

Who do you regard as the best actor in India?
I love Irrfan a lot as he has found his way to act that is likeable as well. I also think Richa Chadha is a very fine actor.

Do you have friends in the film industry?
Prawaal Raman and Gauri Shinde are dear friends. Randeep Hooda is a friend who would stand by me. He is very honest and upfront and says what he feels within. He is not like me and would not care what people would think about it. That's an important quality as an actor, as a good actor is about being clean. He's a very good and sensitive actor. And I think what he likes about me is how I can be so chilled about things including the fact that I don't even have a PR in today's day and age.

Given that you are a purist and choose your scripts carefully, what made you play the role of Amod Kant in Main Aur Charles?
I love films like Paan Singh Tomar and English Vinglish that are real and beautiful and yet include all kinds of people without just being limited to being festival films. Main Aur Charles for me is also that kind of film. While it is about the enigmatic and manipulative person like Charles Sobhraj, it has my character of Amod Kant that is a full-fledged role of a man who was responsible for putting Charles in jail for additional 11 years post his 1986 jail break, without which he would have been out in just two years. I have met Amod Kant in real life and I love the conviction he has to do whatever he does. He is the most honest man I have ever met. He is just like my father who would not ever take even 50 paise extra for anything and who always taught me only one thing, how never to lose your integrity for money. He would always say,  'No matter what you do but if you are my son, follow this.' I love Amod Kant's integrity, his conviction, his responsibility to society that is so inspiring and rare these days.

Having studied the life of Charles Sobhraj through this film, what is the most fascinating quality about him?
What amazes me the most about Charles Sobhraj is how just like Hitler who believed that killing 6 million Jews was alright, Charles too believed that what he did was correct.