‘I AM NOT AN ACTOR, I MAKE OTHERS ACT!’
Goutam Ghose is a reluctant actor. In fact, ask the national award winning filmmaker about the handful of films in which he has acted, and he is quick to point out – “I am not an actor, I make others act.” Still, Ghose has been a part of some impressive projects as an actor, Buddhadeb Dasgupta’s Grihajuddha and Srijit Mukherji’s Baishe Srabon, to name a few, as well as the soon-to-be-released Beyond the Clouds – Iranian director Majid Majidi’s Indian project.
“All the films I have done as an actor have been on request, and Beyond The Clouds was no different,” says the 67-year-old director. “I got a call towards the end of 2016 from casting director Honey Trehan that Majid Majidi was in Mumbai and making an Indian film and wanted to meet and cast me in it. But at the time I was busy with a film of my own.”
The two directors, however, seem fated to work together. “But soon after I was in Mumbai and since my film had been delayed, I told Honey I was willing to meet Majidi. I had seen some of his films, Baran for example, and liked his work.” Ironically, Majidi himself had started off as an actor, before turning director with Baduk in 1992. Over the years Majidi’s films have received Best Picture awards at the Montreal World Film Festival, been nominated for the European Film Academy award, and been counted among the top films of the year by international magazines. The director has also won the Douglas Sirk Award in 2001, and the Amici Vittorio de Sica Award in 2003.
Anyway, Ghose and Majidi met. “He called me a great Indian film- maker,” recalls Ghose with a laugh, “And said there was this character in the film for which he thought I was perfect.” Akshi, the character played by Ghose, is a cameo, but the director says he is a significant part of the plot and responsible for many of the twists and turns in the narrative. “Akshi is a poor man from the south who leaves his family and comes to work in the dhobi ghats of Mumbai.”
Shooting started in March 2017 and Ghose, who shot for 12 days for his role, is all praise not just for his director, but also his co-actors and the entire unit. The film has music by AR Rahman and stars Ishaan Khattar and Malavika Mohanan. “Acting is no big deal for me. As a director I have worked with all kinds of actors – good actors, bad actors, non-actors – and made them act. Also in the 1970s I had some training in theatre and was taught mime, expressions and voice modulation, which still stand me in good stead.”
What he does find difficult at times as an actor is to distance himself from the director in him, he confesses. “Sometimes I feel a certain thing could have been done differently, but I have to remind myself that the director might have a different vision. If I do feel strongly about something though, I make a suggestion to the director. After all, cinema is a collective art. Even when I am directing, I take suggestions from others.”
Working in Beyond the Clouds was different, though, since Ghose says Majidi would himself show him the shots and ask for his opinion. He has not seen Beyond the Clouds yet. But says, “Whoever has seen it, says it has come out very well. I hope to see it at the premiere.” The film releases in India on April 20.
As for Majidi, the shared passion for cinema is an enduring connect between the two that should continue beyond the sets of their respective films. “Majidi is a great Satyajit Ray fan. If he comes to Kolkata for the premiere of Beyond the Clouds I will take him to Ray’s home. That will be a treat for him,” muses Ghose.