Naseeruddin Shah shares his views about his autobiography, future endeavours and his latest movie Finding Fanny
Naseeruddin Shah’s memoir And Then One Day is a candid recount of almost four decades of his life and the actor is happy that it is being appreciated though he says it may ruffle a few feathers in the film industry. One of the most formidable actors in Hindi cinema, Shah started writing about his life in 2002 but was not sure about its quality so he kept postponing it. “It is gratifying, the reaction that I am getting for the book. A lot of people who have read the book have liked it including Shyam Benegal, Girish Karnad, Ramchandra Guha and my brothers. So I am happy if that is the case. Though I suspect it will ruffle a few feathers in the film industry but that is not any of my concern. It has never been my concern,” Shah says.
When asked why he was hesitant to release the book, he replied he was not sure that anyone would be interested in reading his life story. “I did not think that it would be of any interest to anybody. I needed another opinion so I gave it to Ramchandra Guha. He encouraged me and I took that seriously because he himself is a very good writer. I have read his books on cricket and Gandhi. They are superb,” he says while adding, “I thought if someone like him is finding my book readable then others will also like to read it. That’s why I completed it.”
The 64-year-old actor said he is not sure whether he will come up with the second part of the story. “I am not planning anything. I did not plan this one either. I am not promising a second one but I don’t know,” he says. Shah is currently on screens playing a quirky, hopelessly-in-love role of a Goan village postman Ferdie who embarks on a trip to find out his childhood love in Homi Adajania’s Finding Fanny. Shah said he enjoyed being a part of the film. “It has the unique quality of being funny and sad at the same time. My character Fredie is a person who you would smile at and at the same time feel bad about. One rarely gets to play such characters because most of the parts in Hindi films are one-dimensional and predictable,” Shah says.
Adajania, who had previously worked with Shah in his promising debut Being Cyrus, has already said how he postponed the film to get Shah onboard and the actor calls it a ‘huge compliment’. “Before he made Cocktail, he came to me with this story with a different cast. But I was a little caught up at that time and said no, we should wait. I don’t think anyone is irreplaceable but Homi did kept the part for me, which is quite a compliment because it is a lovely part,” he says.