It was a happy Friday for Murli Sharma with his latest film Jai Gangaajal getting a good opening even though he has a small role in it.
“Initially I used to get very nervous on Fridays. But when I did Main Hoon Naa, Boman Irani told me as an actor, never to bank on Friday. Excitement is always there to know how the movie has done on the first day. But one should let this phase pass. Whatever is meant to happen, will happen,” Sharma says.
The 52-year-old actor, who has worked with Prakash Jha before in Chakravyuh and Apaharan, says he is a director who likes his actors to be prepared well in advance.
“Prakash Jha is a great storyteller. The kind of characters he gives birth to on paper, it’s the duty of actors like us to portray them well. He is very meticulous in the way he thinks, writes and executes. He has a keen eye. So, nobody can go wrong. No matter how small the scene is, he makes sure that everyone does rehearsals 10 times to get it right,” Sharma tells you.
Jha, he adds, is a no-nonsense man who loses his temper at times on the sets. Sharma feels that working under him is like going back to school. “It’s for around 40 years that Prakash Jha has been making films. I have a teacher-student kind of relationship with him and everytime I work with him, I get enriched. I am scared of one thing that what if I don’t deliver to his expectationsIJ What If I don’t become the Munna Mardani he has thought offIJ As an actor, I want to see that tinkle in my director’s eye and smile on his face when he says ‘cut’,” Sharma tells you.
Not many people can carry off an effeminate character the way Sharma has done in Jai Gangaajal. He says that bringing Munna Mardani to life took a lot of thinking and practice. “It’s difficult to play an effeminate or a gay character. When I played Munna Mardani I told myself that somewhere he might really exist. It’s a very thin line you walk. We worked on every detail. For instance, I grew one nail longer and polished it red. We highlight small things like that. The most difficult part was to run in a woman’s attire on the streets of Bhopal,” he recalls.
Having done 85-90 films so far, majorly portraying grey characters, Sharma says that initially it used to have an impact on him but no longer so. “Earlier I used to get into the character so much that it would impact me personally. But now the switch into the character and out of it happens easily. I think it as a job, do it with joy and leave it on the sets. If I have a difficult scene the next day, I prepare in the evening and I finish it,” he says.
Sharma first played an effeminate character for a TV show and it left a lasting impression on viewers. “I played Ram Kali, a eunuch in Zee TV’s show Rishtey. That was one of my best ever performances. I don’t think there was a single person who did not cry with Ram Kali. I remember Mahesh Bhatt called me up in the night after a particular episode to say: ‘You captivated me with your emotions. You locked me as an audience.' That was the first time I played a eunuch. Those were the times when I would not sleep three days before playing that character. Then I did the same in films like Masti. I don’t believe in getting typecast but I think the eunuch’s role might get a little too much. So I will think twice now,” Sharma says.
His favourite word is ‘action’ and acting means the world to him. “It’s not just about money. It’s about satisfaction. life is beautiful being an actor. This profession helps me live different lives every 25 days,” says Sharma.