For an actor who has spent over two decades redefining realism on screen, theatre has always been home. That’s where his story started. Now, after a 30-year gap, Nawazuddin Siddiqui is finally returning to the stage with Naqaab, directed by Paritosh Painter. This also marks a personal milestone — the acting debut of his 15-year-old daughter, Shora.

The play premiered in Chicago on July 17 and will do a nine-city US tour. Nawaz opens up about why films had begun leaving him creatively unfulfilled, why theatre continues to be an actor’s greatest school, and the reason he wanted Shora to make her acting debut on stage, instead of the screen.

Speaking about returning to theatre, Nawaz says, “When I came from the National School of Drama (NSD) to Mumbai, it was a struggle and then I started getting smaller roles. Once I started doing movies, theatre se darr lagne laga. Camera ke saamne maza aane laga. Aur phir theatre kiya hi nahi. Over the years, I started getting the feeling that as an artiste I haven’t done something challenging for long. Mujhe lagne laga ki shayad uss type ka kaam hi nahi ho raha movies mein where I can experiment. I am not dismissing cinema. Great work is happening in cinema too, but sometimes you get that feeling when you are doing films year after year.”

Explaining why theatre intimidates even seasoned film actors, Nawaz says, “Cinema has retakes. In cinema you don’t get to explore much. In this play I am playing four-five characters. Depth wale characters hote hain theatre mein. Cinema mein limitations hoti hain. In theatre I can play Hamlet, Othello, but it is not possible in Hindi films. When they make movies, they want to play safe, and after all, they have to make money. So, I wanted to experiment and theatre helped me do that.”

When asked if one of the reasons to turn to theatre was because today’s films no longer excite him, Nawaz reflects on the cinema that inspired him to become an actor.

“When I saw Parinda, I was shocked to see Nana Patekar’s role. When I saw Seema Biswas’s performance in Bandit Queen, I was blown away. Films like Satya, Maqbool and Sparsh excited me. These experiments broke industry clichés. If you see these films, you’ll realize that it’s theatre actors who have delivered some of the most realistic performances on screen. They brought realism to the industry. Today, cinema is all about the box office. People ask, ‘How much has the film made? Rs 100 crore? Okay, let’s go and watch it.’”

Equally special for Nawaz is introducing his daughter Shora to acting through theatre rather than films. At just 15, she is playing a 26-year-old character in Naqaab. “Shora also wanted to act, so she trained under Paritosh Painter who’s directing the play.”

He firmly believes theatre teaches what workshops cannot. “Shora did five-six workshops in London, but it wasn’t enough. I thought let’s get her on stage and make her learn. We started from 50 instead of zero and she needs to reach 100. The role is very difficult. It will be easier for her to do films now.”

Nawaz admits his daughter doesn’t go easy on him. He smiles and shares, “She doesn’t like my roles. She hasn’t even seen much of my work. She has seen Gangs Of Wasseypur. If I make a mistake on stage, she tells me. She is critical of my work. I am not.”

It is easy to forget that before she became a familiar face across television, theatre and cinema, Mita Vasisht was simply another young actor fresh out of the National School of Drama, hoping for the role that would change everything. That opportunity came after her striking turn in Kumar Shahani’s 1986 short Var Var Vari caught the attention of Mani Kaul who, by then, had already secured his place among the defining voices of India’s New Wave cinema with films such as Uski Roti, Ashadh Ka Ek Din and Duvidha.

Kaul would go on to become her mentor, teacher and, ultimately, a lifelong guide. “It was after he saw Kumar Shahani’s film that he decided to offer me Siddheshwari,” Vasisht recalls, referring to the docu-feature on the Thumri artist that turned her from a budding actress into an arthouse regular.

“I hadn’t seen any of his films. I didn’t know who he was; I was just a young actress at the time. Everyone told me he was a famous director, but that I should work with someone like Shyam Benegal instead, to win National Awards. For some reason, though, I was drawn to him.”

Thirty-seven years after that breakthrough, Vasisht has chosen to honour the man who shaped her craft. Her film, Mani Kaul And That Thing Called The Actor, celebrates his mind. After a screening at the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, on June 6, the anniversary of Kaul’s death, Vasisht brings the film to Third Bell Studios, Versova, on July 16.

Kaul was a man of many quirks, and one shaped the very title of Vasisht’s film: his distrust of trained actors. “He disliked trained actors,” she laughs. “I had trained for four years at NSD, and before that at the Department of Indian Theatre in Chandigarh. Yet he cast me in the lead role. I later realized he wanted to challenge me, to help me break free of every convention I had learned.”

This insistence, Vasisht discovered, was Kaul’s way of letting an audience find its own emotional response rather than have one imposed on it. “We were taught us things connected to acting: painting, sculpture, music, poetry,” she says.

“Most people considered him a non-actor director, but I found him deeply connected to the craft, with no patience for loud, outward performance.”

Capturing the life of such an unconventional figure proved a creative challenge. Vasisht refuses to call her project a documentary, preferring the term “fiction feature”. “It follows an actress and a young musician who travel through a director’s mind while they prepare for Siddheshwari,” she explains.

“The film moves before and after that making of the film, and deconstructs the process of its own making.” Vasisht wanted to present the auteur’s psyche, beyond the reach of a conventional biopic.

“I don’t know if Kaul ever wanted to be an actor. He thought he might, but he never appeared in a film beyond his diploma projects.”

After FTII, Kaul turned to direction and produced his acclaimed debut Uski Roti at twenty-five, “an extraordinary film by any measure.”

“I studied Kaul closely and noted everything he told the cinematographer or the costume designer. Few realise how much work goes into a single moment on camera,” says Vasisht. Aside from him, though, she credits directors like Shahani and Govind Nihalani for her path into filmmaking.

“I observe directors very closely to see what they’re searching for. What they ask for isn’t always what they’re actually trying to achieve.”

The film is, in many ways, less a tribute than that conversation continued across time. Vasisht hopes it will introduce a new generation to not just Kaul but to ideas that remain as radical today as they were nearly four decades ago.

At 18, when Pankaj Kapur shared his desire to pursue a career in acting, his father asked him if it was the glamour that he found attractive or if he truly had the ability to act. To find the answer, Kapur decided to join the National School of Drama. When he was leaving home to join NSD, his father, an English professor, told him — ‘Now, don’t look back.’ Kapur didn’t. In a career spanning five decades, the actor has excelled in different genres. During a recent interaction in Nagpur, the actor reflected on his journey in showbiz, recalled his NSD days and more.

The conversation steered towards Kapur’s powerful screen performances and it would have been incomplete without the mention of Abbaji in Vishal Bhardwaj’s Maqbool. Interestingly, Kapur was initially hesitant to play the character.

“When Vishal Bhardwaj approached me with the role, I wasn’t sure of doing it. But he was insistent. So, I asked him to leave the script with me and said I would get back within a month. Eventually, I agreed,” said Kapur, adding, “I later got to know that Bhardwaj had offered the role to Naseeruddin Shah first, but he was interested in playing another character and suggested my name instead. Multiple meetings and discussions helped shape Abbaji’s character more effectively. For example, I had suggested to Vishal that Abbaji, who is short in height, be surrounded by tall, well-built bodyguards. The thought was that it will subtly reflect Abbaji’s authority and power,” said Kapur, who featured in the film with Irrfan and Tabu.

As Kapur spoke about his NSD days, there was a palpable happiness in his voice. “All the people who enter the world of acting hold Konstantin Stanislavski’s name in very high regard. In my first year, I went to the NSD library and took out Stanislavski’s An Actor Prepares,” Kapur recalled, adding, “Coincidentally, the then director of the institute, Ebrahim Alkazi, was walking in front of me. To impress him, I held the book up. He looked at me and asked which book I had taken and I, proudly, said, ‘Sir, I took out An Actor Prepares.’ To my surprise, he asked me to keep the book back on the rack.”

Kapur asked him why and Alkazi’s response changed his perspective. “He told me that Stanislavski wrote this book after 40 years of theatre experience and gave the world the concept of method acting. He told me, ‘You have to make your own way first. Once you achieve that, you can read this book’. Believe me, it’s been 50 years since I passed out of NSD and I have still not read the book. I am very grateful to Alkazi sahab for giving me a chance to discover my own world,” Kapur shared. 

Kapur, who played the builder Tarneja in Kundan Shah’s cult comedy Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro, says that many have thought of remaking the film, but no one has till date. “I think such films are made only once in a lifetime. Many have contributed significantly to the film, but Kundan Shah’s name comes first in that list. It was commendable for him to think, write, and then execute with so much hard work and little money. It’s a film which will stay with the audiences for a long time to come,” Kapur shared. 

Appreciating his son Shahid Kapoor’s professional moves, Kapur who has directed him in Mausam, said, “It is not easy to direct him because he is a huge star and a fine artiste. I would like to say that he is the best actor in his age group. The kind of characters he is picking need a lot of courage considering the fact that he is a star. He is constantly finding his way, which is a sign of growth for an actor.”

In conversation with Anoop Lather, in a session titled after his song Ek Bagal Mein Chaand Hoga, Piyish Mishra spoke about his struggling years as an actor and his bond with Delhi on Day 1 of the fest. “Dilli se mera rishta kuch aur hai. Dilli meri mehbooba hai, aur Mumbai se meri shaadi ho gayi hai. Jab bhi mauka lagta hai Dilli zaroor aata hoon.”

Sharing his affection for Gen Z, he said, “Main Gen Z se bahut pyaar karta hoon. Gen Z se koi parhez nahi hai. Bade achche log ho tum, bas thodi jaldbaazi kar jaate ho woh alag baat hai.”

With his signature tongue-in-cheek humour, he added, “Main perform youth ke liye karta hoon, lekin ek bada aarop hai tumhare upar. Hamare zamane mein mohalle mein ek phenomenon hua karta tha – pita hua aashiq. Woh tumhari generation ne gayab kar diya. Romance ka ek ajeeb-o-gareeb tareeka nikaal liya hai. Tumhare breakups hote hain, dil nahi toot’te. Tum logon ne lutf khatam kar diya hai. Prem ke bina zindagi kuch bhi nahi hai.”

The actor, who spent 20 years in Delhi’s theatre circuit before moving to Mumbai to pursue films, shared that he still enjoys visiting the campus. “NSD ne mujhe sab kuch diya hai.”

He added that his home in Mumbai is always open to struggling artistes. “Jo log struggle karte huye akela mehsoos karte hain, unke liye ek parivaar hai Mumbai mein. Mujhe koi parivaar nahi mila apne time mein, lekin main woh sahara banna chahta hun. Jo bhi Mumbai aata hai, mere ghar mein you’re most welcome.”

In a recent conversation at the National School of Drama in Delhi, Piyush Mishra shared that it’s been 16 years since Gulaal came out, yet every time he visits college campuses, there’s one constant request and it’s for the song Aarambh Hai Prachand. Excerpts:

Sharing an interesting observation, Piyush revealed how people keep telling him ‘Gen Z haath se nikal gayi(hai). Sahitya ke baare mein kuch jaante nahi hain yeh’. To this, he commented, “Arey bhaiya! Ye Gen Z hai jisne Aarambh Hai Prachand hit karwayi hai. Aaj sabse zyada jo Aarambh Hai Prachand bajta hai woh campus mein bajta hai. Students aate hain aur do songs ki demand hoti hai – Ik Bagal Mein Chaand Hoga and Aarambh Hai Prachand.”

Piyush said that he doesn’t feel like creating anymore. He said, “Ballimaran (his band) has expanded so much with tours across cities. So, I’m like, now I don’t want to create anymore,” adding with a laugh, “Lekin biwi ki kitni tareef karunga? Bachchon se kitna baat kar lunga? Teen din ke andar mere andar ka woh keeda aa jata hai aur kehta hai – kya kar rahe ho yaar tum? Just after three-four days, I feel like I should write something new, I should create something. Lekin likhne mein maza nahi aata, create karne mein maza aata hai. Band mein maza aata hai – it’s a live audience. Jab tak main apni energy wahan nikaal nahi leta, mujhe neend nahi aati.”

Piyush, who is now in his 60s, told the audience, “I think if by the age of 50 you have earned everything be it money, status or love then only after 50 are you inclined towards spiritualism. But if you have not found all this in your life by 50, then even after 50, you keep looking for these things in life.”

Nawazuddin Siddiqui has long been praised by critics, for slipping seamlessly into intense, serious, complex roles. But as he stood at the stage of the National School of Drama, he spoke of a time when serious roles weren’t even in the picture.

“There was a moment here, when I realized that maybe I could work on making serious roles my base," he recalled. Until then, he was only into comic roles. A Russian director visiting NSD saw something sharper in him. “He cast me in a serious role based only on my eyes,” Nawaz said.

He said that even now, after decades in the industry, and after playing characters that have shaken him to his core, the hunger remains. “Artist ki jo bhookh hoti hai woh kabhi khatam nahi hoti,” he said.

During a conversation with NSD director Chittaranjan Tripathy, Nawaz recalled his campus days:

Nawaz recalled that when he was at NSD, a Russian theatre director visited the campus and said, "His casting process was unique. He didn’t meet any of the students from my batch. Instead, he looked at our photos and focused only on the eyes. He decided to cast us based on that. That was the first time I was given a serious role in a play. Until then, I had only done comedy at NSD. That was the moment I found a certain tone in my acting. It was the first time I realised I could make that my base and build on it."

Nawazuddin Siddiqui said that in terms of characters, he still feels that it's just the beginning. He recalled, "When we used to do drama during our NSD days, even then, we would search for layers within the characters to perform them differently - kuch alag sa ho, cliched na ho, absurd na ho, unpredictable ho. We constantly tried to avoid what came naturally to the character; we didn't want to do what felt easy. It is important to play characters differently, and I believe absurdity exists somewhere inside us. Bringing that out while performing is essential. Aaj bhi main usi ko le kar pareshan hoon. Characters have their own mistakes, their own shades, and I like doing such characters. Woh characters jinki har cheez achhi hai, mujhe nafrat hai aise characters se."

Giving an example of the hero in Hindi films, he said, "He has no crisis, no troubles in life. He looks good, talks nicely. Khoobsurat ladki uss par marti bhi hai. 12-15 logon ko maar bhi deta hai woh. Mujhe aise characters chahiye jismein kharabiyan bhi ho, achhaiyan bhi ho. Ab aap decide kariye kaisa hai woh? Main usi ko le kar pareshan rehta hoon ki kaash hamare yahan aise kirdar likhe jayein jo cliches ko break karein. Kahaniyaan ek se achhi hai hamare yahan, lekin kirdar waise likhe nahi ja rahe. A lot of people ask me, 'Are you doing a good story?' I don't want a good story; I want a nuanced character."

Nawaz said that we are surrounded by absurd stories, adding, "Lekin hum log samaj se bandhe hain aur woh stories mar jati hain phir. Mujhe shauq hai waise kirdar karne ka. Main uske liye aaj bhi bhookha hoon."

Talking about the characters that left an impression on him, he said, "The most difficult character for me so far has been Balasaheb Thackeray because I didn’t want it to feel like mimicry. I wanted to look like both myself and him at the same time. I studied method acting at NSD, so all of that training helped. Apart from Balasaheb Thackeray, Manto was a character that shook me up internally. Usne mere body mein hulchul kar di. It even brought changes in my life. For a few years, I started speaking the truth too often, and that created some problems for me. Maine jhela sach bol ke, usse seekha maine sach bolo lekin jagah aur time dekh ke bolo."

Frankly, no. I came initially for a voluntary service program teaching in Bengaluru. That went on for two years. After that, I had an invitation to go to Delhi to join a theater group, which I did and have never looked back since. I don’t think about awards and never dream of them. So, the Padma Shri came as a very pleasant surprise.

Shah Rukh joined our theater group and worked with us for several years. I was rehearsing a musical in Lady Shri Ram College called ‘Annie Get Your Gun’. A handsome young man walked into the auditorium and said, “Is there any chance that I can act in your production?” So, I tried him out on that day, and he became one of the principal dancers in the show as the main roles had been given out by then. But he was happy to dance. Manoj was quite different. I also met him somewhat accidentally. My relationship with Manoj was difficult at first, thanks to my bad Hindi and his bad English (laughs). But eventually we overlooked that and became the best of friends, and he worked more closely with me than anyone else. And at that time, I had begun exploring the possibility of using drama to help special groups of people, like the hearing and visually impaired. Manoj started helping out on those programs. As poor as he was, he was happy to be involved. NSD (National School of Drama), by the way, refused admission to him strangely on several occasions. So, working with me and with children…that’s how he evolved.

First, the students all carry a bloody phone in their hands all the time, even in class. They don’t read or watch serious cinema anymore. I think social media has a negative impact. Australia is banning social media for children under 16. I think every country should do the same.

I think I was born to be on the stage. I’ve always found cinema uncomfortable because it’s such a stop-start, stop-start routine for the actor. I’m not very proud of any of the films I’ve done, but I was one of two Brits in India at the time. The other was Tom Alter. If it wasn’t Tom, it was me (laughs).

The Brits are a very class-conscious people and theatre was always something the upper classes did. My father was a factory worker, and my mother was the proverbial homemaker so, I wasn’t born and bred into visiting the theatre until my own interest took me there. I realised later that sadly, it costs a lot of money to buy a theatre ticket in the UK. It has become part of the tourist industry in London and various other big cities, which is sad. I wanted to use it as an educational force. India allowed me to do that.

It’s a wonderful life training young actors. There’s no guarantee that everyone will become the next Shah Rukh or even Manoj Bajpayee. Yet, you do your best, and if there are serious improvements in their work, it’s wonderful. I don’t want to retire and lie on the sofa watching TV.

First, be patient with your parents because they’ll never understand your passion for acting. The second is to not give up. Join a local amateur theater scene and follow your passion. Lastly, please don’t think that you need to be Shah Rukh Khan to be happy. We can’t all be such fabulous fairytale film stars, but you can still have a very useful and positive life as an actor.

You may remember her as Kitty from Karamchand in the 80s, the unforgettable Mangala Dadi from Golmaal (2006), or countless other roles she’s brought to life with flair. That’s Sushmita Mukherjee for you. Last seen on TV in Meri Saas Bhoot Hai (2023), the seasoned actress is currently focusing on her first love — the stage and is busy with her solo play Naaribai. Sushmita portrays an impressive 26 characters, including three lead parts in the play.

She says, “Performing in this play has been an ego-crushing process, as I personally reached out to people to come watch it. This play has been very fulfilling, allowing me to explore different sides of myself as an artiste.”

Sushmita, who has been on a break from TV, shares, “In my 40-year journey in showbiz, I have played all sorts of roles, including those in the saas-bahu era of television. However, I feel that the language of the medium has become stressful and heavily market driven. But I plan to return to the small screen next year. After all, an actor without work is like a dog without a bone.”

Ask her whether she feels she hasn’t got her due in films compared to television and she replies, “People often tell me that, but I tune it out. If it were meant to be, I would have taken a specific path to achieve it.”

Sushmita holds fond yet bittersweet memories of her time as Kitty in Karamchand. She recalls, “It was a strange phase for Pankaj (Kapur) and me. We couldn’t afford rickshaws, and we were too recognizable to take the bus because of the show’s popularity (laughs!).”

After Karamchand, Sushmita chose not to work for an entire year, determined to avoid being typecast. She explains, “I kept receiving Kitty-like offers, but I didn’t want to repeat myself. Taking up those roles would have limited my career to five or seven years.”

While Kitty made her a household name, Sushmita confesses the constant association with the character felt like a burden for a long time. She says, “At that time, I was ungrateful and didn’t realize the value of that role. I wanted to be like Shabana Azmi because of my love for art cinema and playing a character like Kitty felt bizarre, especially with my NSD background.”

‘Neena Gupta has opened doors for senior actresses, proving that age is no barrier to meaningful roles’

Sushmita holds deep admiration for her National School of Drama (NSD) seniors, including Neena Gupta, applauding them for carving their own paths and creating meaningful opportunities for senior actresses. Sharing a personal connection, Sushmita recalls playing Neena’s mother-in-law in the play The Trojan Women (1983).

She says, “When Neena and her contemporaries entered the industry, opportunities for artistes like us were limited. She has challenged stereotypes and opened doors for senior actresses, proving that age is no barrier to meaningful roles.”

“Main film star to nahi ban paya rockstar zaroor ban gaya,” Piyush Mishra said this a few times as he sat on stage to introduce his band Ballimaaraan in Delhi before beginning his music tour Udankhatola. The singer, actor and writer was here to talk about his association with the band, his love for music and how at the age of 62 he has now became a rockstar.

“Gulaal, Maqbool karne ke baad bhi mai film star nahi ban paya kyonki mujh par koi paisa lagane ko tayyar nahi hai... Mujhe laga rockstar achhi upadhi hai ye li ja sakti hai. The kind of response I am getting from my concerts I feel agar mai khud ko rockstar kahunga to mujhe sharam nahi aayegi. I am enjoying this, I may be exhausted when I go on stage, but when I perform and if the show goes well, I am transported to other world. I feel like I have done something. Acting mein apna dum laga do uske bavjood woh response nahi milta hai, haan theater mein milta hai,” he said.

Piyush told the gathering that he started writing in his childhood and feels that this is something that comes naturally to him. He said, “I think I am blessed that I can act, write. I wrote Sharam Kar Lo (poem) when I was in class eight. Ye ho gaya, maloom nahi kaise ho gaya. I used to write, sing, paint, ye sab ho jaya karta tha. There was some force guiding me, I think I am a gifted person.”

“When I joined NSD I was a kid, but I became a youngster in NSD. When I moved to Mumbai, then Gulaal happened, Maqbool happened, Maqbool se mujhe itna faayda nahi mila jitna mujhe milna chahiye tha. Gulaal was a flop but was a hit on Internet. Then Gangs Of Wasseypur happened and I earned some money. I am 62 now, I only take work that I like.”

Piyush shared, “I miss Mandi House a lot. Jab mai Dilli mai tha, Mandi House ke bahar jhaank ke nahi dekha. Mandi House mein toh meri jaan basti hai. Wahan ka ek bhi kona aisa nahi hai jahan maine rehearsal nahi ki ho. Mere samne kai generations nikli hain, Tigmanshu Dhulia ki generation, Adil Husaain ki, Nawazuddin ki, Pankaj Tripathi ki aur Zeeshan Ayyub ki generation. In sabko apni aankhon se dekhna aur mai ab bhi kaam kar raha hoon, ye bahut badi baat hai.”

Going through the display reminded him of the “good old days.” One of the highlights of the exhibition was the red cycle.

“I don’t know how they (his bandmates) got it here. There is a brief story about this. On August 8, 1985 I did a play which was directed by the same person who directed the Hamlet, Fritz Bennewitz. Naseeruddin Shah came to watch the play, woh to khuda the uss waqt hamare liye. Naseer liked the play, he hugged me aur main toh bilkul hi pagal ho gaya tha. To celebrate that I decided to go to Badkhal lake in Faridabad on my brother’s bicycle. There was a milestone that read Gwalior 320 kms, I thought let’s go to Gwalior. I reached there in two and half days aur haalat kharab ho gayi thi. Ye cycle us lambi yatra ki gawah hai,” he shared.

Only weeks after the première of Mirzapur’s third season, Rajesh Tailang is counting the days to his next release, Ulajh. For the thriller, director Sudhanshu Saria has brought an eclectic cast together—Janhvi Kapoor, Gulshan Devaiah and Roshan Mathew hold centre-stage, ably supported by seasoned actors Adil Hussain and Tailang.

“All my co-stars in Ulajh are so sincere, and did such a good job. I don’t think I was as good an actor at their age. Roshan and Gulshan are thoughtful actors. They do a scene not just for the sake of it; they put a lot of thought and hard work behind it,” marvels Tailang.

Most of his scenes in the film are with Kapoor, whom he calls a natural in front of the camera. “She is hard-working and a natural. She is a supportive and grounded actor, which helps you as a co-star. We were all fans of her mother. You can see a glimpse of Sridevi-ji in her,” he says.

After Ulajh, Tailang will be seen in Bandish Bandits 2, a satire with Sakshi Tanwar and Gajraj Rao, and a ZEE5 series directed by Sudhir Mishra. This busy phase in his career is hard-earned. The actor, with a two-decade-plus career behind him, remembers the time when he faced repeated rejections in the industry.

“I have rejected work, but more than that, people have rejected me. But I have never been insecure because I have focused on my growth as an actor. When I didn’t have a lot of screen work, I did theatre and taught at NSD [National School of Drama]. When you work on yourself and your craft, the fragrance [of your hard work] reaches people.”

It was an extremely “happy yet emotional” moment for actor Pankaj Tripathi, who was in the city to receive his second National Award, Best Supporting Actor for Mimi (2021). The actor calls it a moment that he will always hold close to his heart. “My daughter (Aashi) couldn’t come when I won a National Award for Newton (2017), but this time, her school was shut, so we brought her along. And my wife (Mridula) was the happiest to see me on that stage yet again,” shares Tripathi.

The 47-year-old recalls meeting fellow winners, including actors Kriti Sanon (his Mimi co-star who received the National Film Award for Best Actress), Alia Bhatt, Ranbir Kapoor and Allu Arjun, among others. “Everyone said, ‘Your success feels very personal’. I felt very emotional that as an actor I’ve been able to forge such a strong connection of love with my audiences. And it is not only because of my roles and acting. The life I lead has a huge role to play here,” he says.

While Tripathi has won several awards in his career, winning a National Award is always special, he insists. “Inki apni alag garima hai. It’s not organised by any company and there’s no ‘this presents, that presents’. It’s only government presents, so woh ek alag feeling hoti hai. I don’t get emotional on winning any other award, but a National Award is different,” he wraps up.

Before heading back to Mumbai, the actor paid a quick visit to his guruji at Harijan Sevak Sangh, Gandhi Ashram. “Aur main aaj yahan 20 saal pehle ke Pankaj Tripathi se milne aaya tha. I postponed my flight by an hour because I wanted to meet Prasanna sir, our teacher from National School of Drama (NSD). I’m in touch with most of my teachers and feel fortunate to have met people who have shaped me into the person I am,” shares Tripathi, who moved to Mumbai exactly 19 years ago (October 16, 2004).

Filmmaker Tigmanshu Dhulia and late actor Irrfan met during their National School of Drama (NSD) days, and that’s where the foundation of their lifelong bond was laid. “I joined NSD in 1986 and he (Irrfan) was in the third year. Apni jodi bass bann gayi, and we both grew in our personal and professional lives together,” Dhulia, 56, shares as he remembers his “support system” on International Friendship Day today.

Irrfan, who died in April 2020, had once said in an interview about Dhulia, “Mera bahut aziz hai woh aur iklauta dost hai. Har janam mein main uska dost bana rahunga.”

With mutual feelings and a heavy heart, Dhulia shares with us, “Mera bhi koi dost ab bacha nahin hai... He was the only one jo meri saari galtiyon aur kamzoriyon ko jaanta tha. He knew all my plus and minus points. In front of him, I could just be myself. Now, when he has left us, it’s not an age when you make new friends.”

The two first worked together in the TV serial Naya Daur (1995). They went on to do several projects together, from Dhulia’s directorial film debut Haasil to the National Award-winning Paan Singh Tomar (2012) and Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster Returns (2013).

“He used to catch my mistakes at once. He had the ability to peep inside me and say everything to my face. Uske saamne main kuch lambi-lambi haank nahin paata tha... Par ab apni kamzoriyon ko chupaate hi rahunga as I can’t share with anyone,” Dhulia signs off.

Lyricist Swanand Kirkire grew up in a musical family, with his parents always teaching him the importance of leading a good life. “But, I was more interested in theatre than music. Before I learnt about the National School of Drama, I would offer a helping hand to the local theatres in Indore,” says Kirkire, who subsequently arrived in Mumbai to write for a TV serial named Swaraj, and work as filmmaker Sudhir Mishra’s assistant.

It is perhaps this amalgamation of the craft he pursued and the one his family exposed him to, which enables Kirkire to don several hats at once. His upcoming slate of projects is only testimony to this fact. “I’m [acting] in a film with Jaideep Ahlawat and Shefali Shah. It is called Three Of Us. We still don’t know whether it will be released on OTT or in theatres. It was a pleasure to work with director Avinash Arun, who has received much love for his previous works like Pataal Lok, Drishyam and Masaan.”

Artistes across the industry have attempted to distinguish between the demands of cinematic projects and web offerings, but Kirkire believes such segregations are inessential. “I don’t think that the audience has been segregated. Earlier, there were two sources of entertainment  — TV and theatrical films. Now, with the addition of OTT, there are three. This platform has attracted many people, but the TV circuit will always be a beneficial market as it is vast in nature. Every platform is equally important to us. When it comes to revenue, cinema is a direct medium — a film is either a hit or a flop. But, on the web, it’s tough to decipher if a film is a hit or a flop. The generation of revenue is also not linear. So, for an artiste, the [medium via which] revenue is direct, is good. Gradually, people are trying to learn the tropes required to succeed in each platform. The main motive is to entertain, that’s it.”

Up next for him is a musical with Ankur Tewari. He lights up while discussing the project, stating, “Ankur and I had a terrific time working on that show. It will be released soon, and I’m sure people will love it. Apart from this, I will also release an album with different composers. I have created a band with two young musicians named Shrey Gupta and Harshit Mishra.”

Jaideep Ahlawat, Shefali Shah, and Swanand Kirkire

Late actor Surekha Sikri, who is known for her roles in the TV show Balika Vadhu and films such as Zubeidaa (2001) and Badhaai Ho (2018), lives on through her works. On her birth anniversary, her on-screen son from Balika Vadhu, actor Anup Soni, revisits precious moments spent with her, both on and off the set.

Talking about their shared alma mater, Soni says, “Both of us were from the National School of Drama (NSD). She was much senior than me and was a legend! She was a theatre tycoon.”

The actor recollects memories of his and actor Satyajit Sharma’s intellectual discussions with Sikri and shares, “Satyajit, who played my brother [on the show], is also from NSD. So, Surekha ji, Satyajit and I used to often discuss our institute. She was also very well-read and a sharp person, and she used to have intellectual discussions with us.”

The 48-year-old emphasizes that Sikri had already achieved heights when the two started working together on the daily soap. “We worked together for almost six years. I noticed [on the sets] that her dedication was so great that she used to prepare for her scenes on a daily basis. She used to read and correct her lines very meticulously,” he adds. 

Although Sikri played the strict Dadisa on the show, Soni shares that she was nothing like that in real life. “She used to do cute little things, yet people were scared of her on the sets as she was very particular about work,” he recalls.

Character ke preparation mein do-teen din lagte hain, lekin actor banne ke preparation mein 25-30 saal,” Pankaj Tripathi told students during a session at the Bharat Rang Mahotsav at the National School of Drama in New Delhi on Tuesday. He also engaged the audience with his witty remarks and to-the-point, humorous replies.

Pankaj said he’s often seen young actors who, after performing only a couple of plays, consider themselves to be ‘upcoming stars’ and go to Mumbai. When they find out that there is a huge difference between their expectations and reality, they become frustrated and start blaming everyone else for their problems.

He said, “Now, when I look back at the work I did ten years ago, when I graduated from the National School of Drama, I feel I was such a bad actor. I know that ten years later I will see my current work and I will think the same. Best actor bol kar kuch nahi hota. Acting ka koi parameter nahi hai, ki ‘yeh perfect actor hai’. It is a life-long learning process. Usain Bolt can be the best runner, but there is nothing called ‘the best’ in acting.”

“Acting is not wrestling, ki within six minutes you can defeat your opponent. Two actors together deliver a perfect scene, and there is no victory or loss,” Pankaj said, adding, “Before coming to NSD in 2004, I acted in plays for nine years in Patna. This journey has been of 25-30 years, and I can say that I am still learning.”

Pankaj spoke about the grind that young actors have to go through and how sometimes drama school students can feel a bit entitled. “In the digital world, everyone is an actor. Everyone is making reels. It is challenging for actors. Audition dene jao, toh pata chala mere mohalle ka chemist bhi aaya hua hai. When actors from drama school stand in those lines, they feel ‘(why) do I have to stand in this line with these people who are so beneath me?’.”

The actor had earlier said that he believes in the economy of gestures and tries to find ways to say the maximum with minimum effort. During this session, he also spoke about the trap of stereotyping in cinema. Though he has explored a lot of emotions and gestures for his different roles, when he now gets offers, the script often includes a particular gesture he is known for – like his iconic nod.

He says, “Log bolte hain – ‘payment zyada le lo, lekin wohi karo jo tumne uss mein kiya tha’. Cinema ka apna alag trap hai. Ek baar jo cheez hit ho gayi, wohi karwai jaati hai. Kai baar karte bhi hain, ki EMI dena hai ya jeevan mein zaroorat ho. Agar aap ye jaan kar role kar rahe hain ki karne ka purpose kya hai, toh theek hai. Purpose pata hona chahiye.”

Pankaj spoke about the pitfalls of stardom, where actors start considering themselves as gods. He said, “Cinema bahut jaldi dimag kharab karta hai. Shooting pe 200-400 log aa jaate hain, toh actor ko lagta hai ki main bahut powerful hoon. Cinema bhram (illusion) create karta hai, aur actor uss bhram mein padh ke khud ko ishwar samajhne lagta hai. Phir woh kissi aur track pe nikalne lagte hai. Jiss se actor ke art ka bhi nuksan hota hai.”

About his acting process, he emphasized that imagination is a vital tool for actors, and they must develop it.

Actor Pankaj Tripathi never misses a chance to remember and thank the industry veterans who have helped him hone his craft. “I’ve taken acting lessons from many seniors, such as (actors) Naseer Sahab (Naseeruddin Shah), Manoj Bajpayee, Piyush Mishra, the late Om Puri sir and Irrfan,” says the actor, who recently hosted an acting workshop in Mumbai, conducted by his teacher from National School of Drama, Delhi.

“As actors, we barely get to revisit the basics of acting. The whole purpose of the workshop was to brush up on the skills and revisit the art,” he tells us.

Tripathi, known for his roles in Mirzapur and Mimi (2021), doles out some advice for budding actors: “Lakeer ke fakeer mat bano. Don’t be rigid with your thoughts and opinions, particularly when it comes to the craft of acting. And, ensure that glamour and success are not the sole purpose of doing it.”

The 46-year-old feels that actors must constantly evolve and unlearn. “It’d be wrong to say that I know all about acting. We are all students of cinema and the process of learning never ends,” shares Tripathi, who will be seen in the film OMG 2 and season three of the web show Mirzapur soon.

Naseeruddin Shah was in the capital recently to attend the Urdu festival Jashn-e-Rekhta. After seeing the overcrowded venue, the veteran actor said, “There was a time when I was doing plays in the NSD (National School of Drama), and nobody would come to watch. Aaj behad khushi ho rahi hai. Kaash main aaj natak kar raha hota. Bahut khushi hoti hai Dilli wapis aa ke.”

At the fest, Shah spoke about writing a letter to Gulzar to cast him for Mirza Ghalib’s role. Gulzar was casting Sanjeev Kumar for the role but Shah said he couldn’t imagine him as Ghalib. He said, “Main jab film institute mein padh raha tha toh mere ek dost ne bataya ki Gulzar sahab Mirza Ghalib pe film bana rahe hain aur Sanjeev Kumar ko usmein lena chah rahe hain; toh mujhe bada gussa aaya. Sanjeev sahab bahut achhe actor thay, unhone bahut behtareen kirdar kiye hain aur unka loha har koi manta hai. Lekin Ghalib...”

He somehow found out Gulzar’s address and wrote a letter to him, which said, “Aap bahut badi galti kar rahe hain. Main woh actor hoon jiski aap ko talash hai.”

Years went by and Shah started working in films. Even though he met Gulzar several times, he never mentioned the letter. After 12 years, one day Gulzar called him to ask if he would like to do the role of Ghalib in a serial. He shared, “Mujhe laga ki phone mere haath se gir jayega...yeh mera khwaab kaise sach ho gaya.”

He said Gulzar chose him even when many people were against it, and years later, when he brought up the letter discussion, Gulzar told him that he never received his letter.

Shah shared with the audience that the role introduced him to Urdu poetry. “It introduced me to profundity of Urdu poetry. Before that I used to think that only Wordsworth, Keats and Robert Browning are poets and only Shakespeare is dramatist. Ghalib sahab ko padh kar main dang reh gaya. Urdu se mera ishq wahan se shuru hua,” he added.

When asked if he would take up the role of Ghalib again, Shah said, “Agar main woh role dubara kar sakta toh mere khayal se usse behtar kar sakta. Uss waqt meri samajh limited thi. Shayari ke baare mein bhi; sher kis tarah bola jata hai iski bhi samajh nahi thi. Yeh criticism hui meri performance mein ki isko sher padhne nahi aate. Maine ye (feedback) sar ankhon pe li... Gulzar bhai isko 16mm mein shoot karna chahte thay lekin producer nahin mane, aur aaj aap dekhenge ki uski quality bahut buri tarah ghat gayi.”

During his masterclass titled Journey as an Actor at the 53rd edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), Nawazuddin Siddiqui shared with the audience what he expects from his directors, how he approaches his characters and why he never gets tired of acting.

In conversation with Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) member and IFFI steering committee member Vani Tripathi Tikoo, Nawazuddin revealed to the audience that he had initially refused to do Sacred Games because he had no idea about what a web series was.

“When Vikramaditya Motwane (director of the series) contacted me to do Sacred Games, I was not really sure. I didn’t know much about the concept of web shows. It was Anurag Kashyap who convinced me to do the series. Anurag showed me a world map and said that the web show would be available in every country that was lit up on the map, and that was when I understood the reach OTT has and agreed to take up the role,” he recounted.

Tikoo informed the audience that Nawaz has been working in international projects and asked him about the difference he has noticed while working with directors in India and abroad. “Hamare yahan shoot par bahut shor machta hai. Silence ka koi concept nahi hai. Aur director chahta hai ki ismein ye actor apna best kare,” he said.

Nawaz added, “Itni awaazein ho rahi hain aur usmein kehte hain — ‘aaiye, aap ka shot ready hai. Lights, camera, action’. Thoda silence do na yaar usko, toh woh shayad behtar kar sake. Main bolta hoon silence do, lekin hamare yahan nahi ho pata. Hamare yahan silence ka concept nahi hai.”

When Vani asked her National School of Drama (NSD) senior about his approach towards acting, Nawazuddin said, “Whenever a senior director used to visit NSD, he used to ask us to unlearn all the techniques and start it all over again, and that felt like a tedious process back then. Later, I realised that whenever you do a new role, you have to start learning all over again. If you think that you know everything, then you will not be able to excel in your craft. You have to start from zero. I unlearn and learn every time I start a project. Pehle se agar mind mein le kar aao ki main toh har baar century marta hoon toh bahut mushkil ho jayega.”

Talking about an actor’s fatigue while goingthrough the psychological and physical transformation every character might need, Vani asked Nawaz what drives him every day to act all over again. “Kahin na kahin woh aadat bhi ban jati hai jo aap ko junoon de ki har roz subah kaam karne ki. Acting mera shauq hai, main usse kyun thakunga? Mujhe realise hota hai ki acting mein hi toh duniya basti hai meri. Ismein mujhe thakna kyun hai? Kabhi kabhi toh lagta hai ki ek zindagi bhi kam hai. Jab aap deep jate hain acting mein, tab aap ko lagta hai ki abhi to bahut kuch karna hai. Sirf acting itna bada field hai ki lagta hai paanch zindagi bhi milegi toh bhi pura nahi kar payenge hum log,” responded Nawaz.

Responding to a question on what he expects from his directors, Nawaz said, “I need everything from my directors. I want them to tell me every single trait of the character that they are aware of. But unfortunately, very few directors are like that in our country. When you read a script, you’ll find that there are only dialogues and hardly any details about the kind of person a character is — details about his temperament, his physicality. Set par bolte hain aisa character hai, lekin yaar yeh script mein toh likha nahi. Dialoguebazi bahut hai hamare yahan. Do page ka dialogue likhne ki kya zarurat hai jab ek eyeball se express kar sakta hai scene ko? Hum bolte bahut hai.”

He further shared, “Once Irrfan bhai was directing me in a short film and I told the actress, ‘Aa ja meri cycle mein baith ja,’ aur Irrfan bhai ne kaha, ‘Cycle toh dikh rahi hai, toh bol kyun raha hai?’” While talking about dealing with mediocre actors, he said, “Scene do logon ki wajah se banta hai. Agar koi mediocre hai toh scene nahi banega. Lekin hamare yahan chalta hai. Insaan achcha hai toh le lo usko yaar. Arey insaan achcha hai toh ghar pe bula ke dawat do usko, role kyun de rahe ho?”

When someone asked Nawazuddin, what should one do when they are not getting a role even after 10-20 auditions, he said, “Once an actor came to Piyush bhai (Piyush Mishra) and said that he wants to leave acting and Piyush bhai responded, ‘Haan sahi soch raha hai, chala ja.’ That actor was expecting that he would be encouraged and consoled. Kya hai na humein koi sambhalne nahi aayega, humein khud ko hi sambhalna hoga. Humein puri zindagi deni padegi, agar 55 saal mein mil jaye success toh koi buri baat nahin hai.”

Nawazuddin Siddiqui didn’t hold back anything at his masterclass at the 53rd International Film Festival of India (IFFI), while in conversation with CBFC member Vani Tripathi Tikoo. As he answered fans’ questions, he even spoke about the dark times he went through before emerging as a powerhouse of talent that he is today.

In a startling revelation, the 48-year-old actor said that in his early days, he would not even get any TV shows because of his skin colour. “Mujhe serials mein bhi lena band kar diya tha. When I asked why was I not being taken in serials, I was told, ‘We make one episode in one day. If we take you, it will take us one and a half days because it will take time to lighten up the skin tone on your face’,” he said.

Siddiqui further said that he was also not cast because of his looks earlier. The actor, known for films such as Gangs Of Wasseypur (2012), Kahaani (2016) and Serious Men (2020), added, “When I completed my training in the National School of Drama and went to Mumbai, I thought I am a trained actor hence I will get work easily. But the exact opposite happened. When I came to the film industry, I realised that trained actors ki zaroorat hi nahin hai kisi ko, cinema ka criteria alag hai bilkul.” The actor said he felt that one needed to be a hero material and he did not fit in the image.

However, the actor is happy that the scenario has changed today, thanks to OTT platforms gaining popularity and more work happening. Siddiqui also revealed that he had almost refused the hit OTT show Sacred Games (2018) and was glad that he played the character Ganesh Gaitonde, which eventually turned out to be one of his best performances till date. The actor said that he wasn’t very interested in the show initially but when filmmaker Anurag Kashyap made him realise that it was being watched in over 190 countries, he understood how big it was.