Naseer fears people won’t go to movie halls in future

Naseeruddin Shah is arguably one of those few actors in the Indian film industry to have worked in multiple genres. From being part of star-studded Hollywood movies, umpteen Hindi films to exploring regional cinema, the thespian has a wealth of experience in this field. So, when we caught up with him, we spoke about the future of digital platform, parallel cinema, the current crop of artistes, and being an ardent cinema lover. Excerpts.

Your Wikipedia page calls you a prominent figure in parallel cinema...

I do follow parallel cinema, I continue to work in them too. I have done several movies which people haven’t really seen much. Those kinds of movies are not being made anymore. People I used to work with frequently like Shyam Benegal or Govind Nihalani or Ketan Mehta don’t work that much either. Shyam is practically retired, so is Govind. I am still interested in doing projects like those. So I am still doing what I can.

What do you feel about online streaming platforms? Do you feel they are a threat to films?

They are the future. People won’t come to a theatre to watch a film anymore, I am afraid that it will happen at some point. If that happens, that would be my biggest regret. Going to a movie theatre was always one of my favourite activities. Call it nostalgia, but I love it. Theatres have gotten smaller, I don’t think people enjoy going to a theatre and I fear movie theatres would be a thing of a past.

Do you think there is anything good about online platforms?

What is good about the online platforms is that at least new directors are getting a chance to showcase their abilities and their movies are being seen. They are making these films free of risks, free of pressure; they don’t have a producer sitting over their heads asking them who is the star? I have acted in several of these films. The experience in each has absolutely wonderful. I am extremely proud of them.

You said that you like performances that you feel you can’t pull off. Any recent performance that made you feel the same?

I’d say something like what Rajkummar Rao did in Trapped (2016) or in Barielly Ki Barfi (2017). I would love to work with so many actors. I haven’t worked with Nawazuddin Siddiqui. Then there is the absolutely wonderful Alia Bhatt. Jim Sarbh is also a fantastic actor.

People won’t come to a theatre to watch a film anymore, I am afraid that it will happen at some point. If that happens, that would be my biggest regret NASEERUDDIN SHAH, ACTOR

PHOTO: KUNAL PATIL/HT