Manav Kaul's innocent, doe-eyed face doesn't hamper his performance, even when he had to play the manipulative mama in Kai Po Che! or the villainous politician in Jai GangaaJal. And that's thanks to theatre, which has been his training ground. Though he's making his presence felt in Bollywood, the actor is still actively involved in theatre. Apart from ac ing in his new play Chuhal, which will premiere today at the Prithvi Theatre Festival presented by Bombay Times, Manav has also written and directed it. Excerpts from an interview.

You once mentioned that your parents expected you to become a chaiwalla...
As a child, I was a backbencher and academically weak. Even today my general knowledge is zero. So, my family gave up on me very early in life. They thought I wouldn't be able to do anything. They just wanted me to learn a skill, so that I could earn some money. We are Kashmiris, who love chai and I make it well, so they thought I would become a chaiwalla. But that didn't happen. Whatever I am today, it is because of Prithvi. I owe every thing to them. When I started off, I was just another actor. Nobody had the confidence in me that I could write a play, not even my closest friends. But Sanjana Kapoor gave me two days and asked me to write Shakkar Ke Paanch Daane. And after that my life changed.

What inspired you to write this play?
As far as women in India are concerned, we are going through a very interesting change. When I was growing up, I didn't see any single woman (by choice) living alone. If a woman was not married, it meant she had some problem. But today, there are so many who are single by choice and happy. It is such a liberating change and I love that. So, I wanted to touch upon this subject.

You're returning to the stage after 10 years...
The last time I acted in theatre was for Peele Scooterwala Aadmi in 2006. I have been directing and writing for 12 years, so that comes easy to me. I was looking for a challenge and hence decided to do this play. Also, initially, I wanted to cast Sumeet Vyas but he was busy. Since I am directing, writing, acting and producing the play, it can get exhausting.

Why did you stay away from theatre for so long? Is it because you prefer working in films?
No, I wasn't doing any films, too. I started working in Bollywood only in 2013.In 2002, I was doing six plays as an actor and suddenly something happened and I stopped everything. I wasn't enjoying acting. After that I started writing because I didn't know what to do with myself. I sat at home for a year and then wrote Shakkar Ke Paanch Daane. In 2013, I rediscovered acting and am obsessed with it now.

Do you think theatre actors can have successful careers in films?
Why not? I do theatre, films, write short stories, travel the world and still have a lot of time. Because I don't treat it as a job. I think I can take up a few more things. You also grow as a human being if you do many things.

When you are facing one of the best talents in the country it's easy to get intimidated. Especially since Naseeruddin Shah's reputation of being brutally honest precedes him. And, he doesn't disappoint. The actor doesn't mince words - be it about his family, films, theatre in India, or the recent outrage against Pakistani artistes working in our movies. We catch up with Naseer as he prepares to stage Riding Madly Off In All Directions, which premieres at the Prithvi Theatre Festival presented by Bombay Times. The fest will be held from November 3 to 14. Excerpts...

You are staging a play with your entire family (wife Ratna Pathak Shah and children Heeba, Imaad and Vivaan) for the first time. What made you think this was the right script?
I wanted to do a play with my family, and have loved Stephen Leacock's stories for long. I don't know what makes me choose a script; it's instinctive. Something stirred within me when I read those scripts, and I felt that they could make for a stimulating theatre evening; something that's not just entertaining, but also food for thought.

Do the dynamics change when you work with your family?
All my children have the potential to be very good actors, but they resist my attempts to educate them. I don't yell at them as much as I do at other actors whom I love, too. Any other student would go home and forget about my yelling, but if I yell at my children, it can seep into our personal lives. You can call it ego or consideration for treating my family members differently. Having said that, I am not less demanding. I push them, as I want them to do well. Over the years, I have also learnt that yelling isn't the way to handle actors. I got yelled at as a student; my teachers would get absolutely hysterical. I too started doing that and I regret it greatly. I have perhaps done more damage by yelling and it has taken me long to realise the fact.

Is theatre more educating than cinema?
I have great doubts about either theatre or cinema being effective mediums of education. Theatre can give you an insight into something, but it can't alter your perception of life. That will happen only to those who desire to delve deeper into this mystery called life. There are zillions of PhDs and MAs who talk the most illiterate stuff and zillions of trained actors who don't know the first thing about their job. So, it's all about self-education.

Do your children have the same approach towards theatre as your wife and you?
I don't think theatre means as much to them. I have to accept my children for whatever they are. Their approach might prove to be valid at some point and mine, a little too traditional. They take life more lightly than we did and that's because they didn't face the same struggles. But then, who am I to wish that they should face struggles? What the hell have I worked so hard for? I aspired to give them everything that I didn't have. Why should I wish that they go through the same nightmares that I went through? In fact, I envy them. I don't doubt their integrity or intelligence. I may be critical of their approach, but who knows where it may lead them.

But doesn't struggle enhance the actor in you?
My children have a different kind of struggle - to prove themselves, which is no less than my struggle to earn my bread. They have already got a head start on the work front. I had nobody in the city when I came here. They have known a lot of people since they were born.

You are selective about your roles in Bollywood but more active in theatre. Why?
I owe it to this medium, as it has given me a lot. Everything I have learnt about life, literature, poetry, speech and aesthetics has been through theatre. I was not a good student in school. Studying mathematics was torture and I always cursed it, as I would always score zero. Forget theatre, mathematics is taught so badly. No teacher ever has tried to tell us about the magic of numbers. I realised it when I was doing tables with my son.

Does your inclination towards theatre also stem from the fact that there aren't enough roles for actors like you in Bollywood?
We don't have those kind of writers in cinema. In theatre, I can pick anything from the last 5,000 years. I can do a William Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde and George Bernard Shaw. Great writing transcends time.

And what about actors?
(Laughs) I can count on half the fingers of one hand the number of conversations I have had with other actors. Frankly, I am yet to meet anyone in the film industry with whom I can talk about acting. You can talk about parties, films, girls and anecdotes, but not acting.

Is theatre today better than it was in the 80s or 90s?
It's an illusion. The kind of theatre the corporates are patronising are efforts in the wrong direction, including the attempt to bring Broadway here. We don't need Broadway; we have got Hindi cinema. Broadway serves the same purpose in the West as Hindi commercial cinema does here. It's got jaadugari; it's part discotheque, part magic show and part music concert. It's not theatre and that's what these corporates are encouraging. They call it spectacular stuff, which is nonsense in my view. Secondly, it's not presented with consummate excellence, which you see in a Broadway production of the West, because they have been doing it for 100 years now. We are new at it and hence, clumsy. I neither believe in that kind of theatre nor do I watch it.

You are brutally honest, which is an antithesis of an actor...
Yes, I suppose. As a director too, I was brutally honest. I love my actors and want them to do well. Sometimes to get them to do well, you have to torture them.

Because of that, you often get mired in controversies, the latest being the Rajesh Khanna incident. Do you regret having said that?
I don't regret what I say, as I have always said what I meant. The media tends to exaggerate, but I have got used to it. So, I am inclined to speak a little less to the media, because I don't want what I say to be sensationalised. I don't want to sound like Donald Trump (laughs), but the fact is, sometimes the media tries to make their headlines sensational. I had said the same thing about Mr Khanna earlier, no one got upset then. So, I think it's something to do with the atmosphere prevailing today.

Your Pakistani short film Jeewan Hathi is yet to release. What do you think of it, considering the ongoing tension between the two countries?
I don't think it will ever be screened here. The deal will fall through, as the channel, which produced the film, has stopped telecasting Pakistani shows. They had planned an Indo-Pak collaboration with five Indian and Pakistani filmmakers' short films, which were to be shown together.