More than picking references for his roles, actor Arshad Warsi tries and manufactures his own identity. He tells Ayushi Sharma that he didn’t want to look caricatured on screen. He prefers to bring out his original style
When it comes to actor Arshad Warsi, we know we are talking about someone who can be congruent in a lot of different roles, believable as a rogue or a lawyer or a goon or just a boy next door. Is there a need to name the films these roles are being listed from? No, right? Well, it’s his versatility yet a natural way of expression that ensures his roles are etched in the audience’s minds. And now, with his next, Durgamati, a horror drama, he is all set to make us believe in him as a politician.
It seems that there wasn’t really much to do for him in terms of preparation for the role since he is already someone who has “been there, done that.” Warsi tells us that director G Ashok wanted him to look older and like somebody, who has a tremendous amount of experience and maturity. For that, he had to gain a few kilos too. “Not too much though as it gets difficult when you have to shed the extra weight,” he chuckles.
The film is a remake of Ashok’s Telugu–Tamil bilingual film, Bhaagamathie. It revolves around Ishwar Prasad (played by Warsi), a powerful politician, who enjoys massive public support. When idols from 12 temples go missing, CBI officer Nidhi Verma suspects Ishwar of the theft. In order to expose him, she recruits suspended IAS officer, Chanchal Chauhan to find the clues. Chanchal goes to live in the ancient Durgamati mansion and soon enough, the ghost of Durgamati takes control of her body and swears revenge on everyone who did wrong to her.
There has been a lot of mystery built behind Warsi’s character and when asked, he wishes to tell us more about it, however, “Put it this way… If I have done it, there must have been a very valid reason for me. Other than that you need to watch the film to find out what’s the actual suspense,” he says.
A remake certainly sets reference points for the preparation. However, Warsi believes in manufacturing his own identity and prefers to do his homework in his head. And hence, he watched Bhaagamathie after he finished shooting for the film. He says, “Personally, I don’t do much of homework. Everything usually happens in my mind. When I hear about a particular role, I instantly start figuring out how one can play with this character, what can be added or, if necessary, removed. More than looking at somebody or picking up different references for my roles to look the same, I try to create my own presence and identity. I have done in most of my films. I think that’s why you like the novelty… I come across as somebody you haven’t seen before. So I really like doing that. For instance, Circuit was a tapori role and a character like him has been played by so many other people. But when you saw me doing it, you liked it because it was different from others,” he says with confidence gushing in voice from the other end of the phone.
He gives another instance. “When I did Ishqiya, my reference point was actually Jagdeep Sahab in Sholay. That’s all I have seen of a Bhopali person. I didn’t want to look caricatured. I wanted to bring out my original style. So I kept on thinking about it. I have a friend who is from Bhopal and lives in Dubai now. So I called him and asked about the lingo, the language, the swearing and slang words which Bhopali people use. I keep adding little things to my character. I did the same with Ishwar Prasad, too. I was told that he’s a politician so there’s a certain way he would behave. I worked on the body language, hair, sitting and walk postures and the way of talking. To be honest, it’s pretty much a figment of my imagination, just like most of my characters. Well, they are a figment of the writer’s imagination, which I bring to life as much as I can with my personal touch,” adds he.
For him, when he listens to a script or decides to go for it, it’s completely on the basis of — “Would I want to see it?” He says, “Sometimes, I could go wrong or sometimes the decision could turn out right.” And he feels that Durgamati has all the elements to be called a “good” film. “It’s thrilling, keeps you at the edge of your seat and is totally unpredictable. It’s not gruesome. There’s no blood shed or ugly violence. It simply scares you… the whole environment of it does.”
Since horror presents highly fictionalised phenomenon, stories are set up in a different background altogether and do not find any connection with reality. However, from the trailer, it seems like Durgamati has been set up in a real world. Warsi says that it’s not the first horror film to be set up in pace with the real scenario. “I saw Anushka’s (Sharma) Pari and I thought it was very smart of them to show a world that we know and can connect easily. And that is the real challenge — to merge this genre with reality.”
Talking about how realism has become a recurrent theme in cinema now, he tells us that he looks up to films “for entertainment only.” He adds, “Everybody is trying to be politically correct as much as possible. I don’t take them seriously, be it fiction or a reality-based thriller.” For Warsi, a film doesn’t have to be “necessarily” socially responsible. “We have schools and teachers for that. If everything becomes about being responsible, then there will be no entertainment at all. I can’t show a great film to a murderer and expect him to suddenly become a good man and vice versa. It’s not possible! I can’t expect a good human being to start being violent just because he saw a crime genre. He won’t just head out and start killing people. It’s never going to happen that way. Either you are good or you’re bad. Films can’t change your personality. Or else, people would just use that as an excuse,” says he.
When it comes to horror, the genre has not been well-experimented or explored in mainstream Indian cinema. Warsi believes that it’s because it’s not been widely watched. He says, “There’s a major segment which is scared of horror, and hence, directors don’t want to get into that space. Filmmakers make movies for business and they would rather prefer experimenting with some other common genre such as comedy or romcom because they know that everybody would see it. Why make horror and risk it with nobody watching it? If I, as an audience, probably would have to choose between horror and comedy, I’d definitely go for the latter. Or maybe an action film.”
The actor doesn’t seem to enjoy film promotions much. He would rather just interact with people casually or stay at home with his family. Since the COVID-19 pandemic has brought new ways of promotion, Warsi says life is so much easier because of digital film promotions. “I have realised this lately that I really like staying at home. I don’t know why… Now that promotions are going on from home, I am absolutely fine. I can chat with the media all day if I’m doing from the comfort of my home. I don’t really enjoy the hassle of getting in and out all day,” he chuckles and signs off.
(The film, which also stars Bhumi Pednekar, Mahie Gill and Jisshu Sengupta, is slated to release on December 11 on Amazon Prime Video.)
Monday, 07 December 2020 | Ayushi Sharma
