How did you get the role in ‘Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya’?
I would say that my journey in life has been from Momma to Mama. This film happened to me in just one day! I was shooting for another project in the United Kingdom (UK) and had come to India only for two days.And in those two days, I auditioned, met people and was finalised to play the part of Shahid Kapoor’s Mama (maternal uncle). It happened when I had a very short hair because I had gone bald for ‘Haddi’ (2023). They [the makers of ‘Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya’ (‘TBMAUJ’)] wanted someone who looked like a simpleton,who would not think twice before saying anything. It was in my space of humour. The slap scene was an improvisation done by Anubha and me. The film opens with that scene.
How was it working with Shahid Kapoor and Kriti Sanon?
Both, Shahid and Kriti, are stars in their own right. They are popular as well as credible actors and have been doing some good work. None had an air of stardom on the sets. They were open to give and take suggestions.
I did not expect to interact with Dharamji (veteran actor Dharmendra). I am his farmer friend now (smiles)! He promoted my agriculture. He called all my farmers to his house, where we went with vegetables. He was very impressed with the fact that a youngster from the film industry was talking about agriculture. Whenever Dharamji and I met during the shoot of the film, we spoke about everything other than the film. We talked a lot about our country and its farmers.
Share your take on the subject of the film?
No matter how much the Artificial Intelligence (AI) influences our lives, we can’t replace human emotions. Secondly, if we use the AI to our advantage, we will have a lot of time for ourselves and our well-being.Washing machines and dishwashers sharing our household chores is one of such examples of time savers.This is the time to realise that AI can be used as a positive step towards the well-being of humanity. But you can’t expect any emotions from it because it cannot feel anything. It is scary if it is misused.As we progress with science and AI, the human consciousness must be kept in the forefront.
The latest deepfake technology is being used in politics. What’s your take on the same?
Till the time it is used as humour, all of us should be open to it in a democratic nation. Take it as satire and sarcasm. We should avoid insulting each other because we have become extremely sensitive. But somewhere, I feel, because we have been democratic, humour and satire have had a huge space till the 1990s. We became over-sensitive after that.
On the sets of ‘TBMAUJ’, did anyone ask you about ‘Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai’?
Dharamji had seen some of my work, Dimpleji(Dimple Kapadia) had not. Shahid and Kriti knew about it. on the first day when I reached the sets, Kriti said, ‘I’m sure you are playing Mama’.
How do you reflect on your journey so far? Going back to your one of your favourite subjects, where is the farmer and where is the actor?
I breathe farmer. I breathe actor only when I get to work. Things have changed for me in the last couple of months. In the first 24 years of my career, I had done only two Hindi films. But in the last one year, I have done four Hindi films. People have started accepting me in substantial character roles. I feel established more as an actor today. Because here, if you have done comedy, they typecast you in those roles only. Doing comedy is like learning classical singing. If you have learnt classical singing, other forms of singing become easier.
Doing comedy did come in my way because of over-exposure on similar lines. I was also saturated. The writing also wasn’t deep enough. But today, I am diving deep enough and figuring out what treasures to come out with as an actor.
Public Review of ‘Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya’
