Sushant Singh Rajput feels that his belief in himself has helped him find his footing in the industry. In a candid chat with Divya Kaushik, he talks about his initial days in Mumbai, being a passionate dancer and working with a genius like Dibakar Banerjee
Do not go by his boyish looks with silken locks falling freely on his forehead or his zen-like demeanour. He is a powerhouse of energy, confident and someone who can inspire you with his conviction and knowledge. While interacting with Sushant Singh Rajput, there were moments of awe and disbelief as we did not know that the actor follows a thorough process to prepare for his roles or that he has read books on how to choose scripts or that he is pretty philosophical. He believes that learning about an abstract skill like acting is subconscious. While he was here for the promotions of his forthcoming film Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! he took out some time, gave a miss to India vs Australia cricket match for 30 minutes and spoke about his interest in history, working with Dibakar Banerjee and more. Excerpts:
How was it to work with the genius like Dibakar Banerjee, someone who is known to bring out a certain depth in his characters, in Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!IJ
He is an intelligent film-maker. I remember reading the script for the first time and we had a long conversation on what was he trying to say in the film, why did he want to make it and what was his idea of the film. He had his own personal intent to make the film on Byomkesh Bakshy and showing something that is period or history now, something that belongs to 1940s, in a way that we all can relate in the present day. All the technical skills that we have used, be it lighting, cinematography, editing, background or music, they are new-age but everything that you see in the frame is of that era. So this idea of amalgamating both was very fascinating. Also Calcutta then was the most important city in India for British. We had to find out why. I had a long conversation with him regarding every aspect of the history that is very much reflective in the film. He as a film-maker would not tell you how to prepare for the role or how to approach it. After having all the conversations, when he knows that he and the actor are at the same wavelength, he will ask the actor to come up with his improvisations. So you do your research, you exhaust yourself and you come up with your options. And then he slowly guides you of things that you should not do or think. So in your head you are thinking that it is you who is doing it but you are actually being guided. He is very smart, he knows it from the very first day what he wants from you but he never tells you that. So he makes it very symbiotic, a relationship of mutual dependence, and I think that is the quality of a master film-maker.
What was your takeaway from this filmIJ What did you learn about the characterIJ
When I was in Kolkata with the team that was doing the recce, I did my own research. I spoke to the natives of that place and I realised that they have very strong opinions about Byomkesh Bakshy. So one responsibility that I assumed since very beginning was not to disappoint them because the film is our own representation of Byomkesh. It is about the character that Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay created in the 1940s, but slightly different. In the film, we are talking about his first case. Everybody who knows about Byomkesh knows about Ajit, his assistant-cum-chronicler, and Satyawati, who later became his wife. So he meets Ajit for the first time, he meets Satyawati for the first time, but what happens before thatIJ He got his first case when he was very young so he was not seasoned, so he made mistakes but gradually he transformed into Byomkesh that we know. So this idea was very fascinating. Everything that I saw after shooting the film, all the versions of Byomkesh Bakshy that I saw presented him as a seasoned character who knows he is a genius, he knows his style and it is just that cases that he deals with are different. But in this film, this guy is a very regular boy, very intelligent of course, and he gradually transforms into a seasoned detective and a very mature man.
There was the time in Indian cinema when there were good detective thrillers but over the years the quality deteriorated. Do you think this film will make the beginning of sortsIJ
One of the most important things for any kind of film, irrespective of the genre, is that it should keep you hooked. Any film, if it makes you think what’s going to happen next in each and every plot, will be interesting. If the film-maker is able to achieve that in his film, it will be successful. I also feel that because we were exposed to Sherlock, we would not like to watch someone who is his copy. Most of the times we were imitating what everybody had seen, for example, now everybody has seen Robert Downey Jr or Cumberbatch, so we don’t have to imitate them. Originality is the key. like Byomkesh is hardcore Indian but at the same time he is also very stylish. We know exactly what we are trying to say in the film and the script is so twisted that you will wait for the next sequence while watching it. The TV series was able to bring out that magic and thrill of the character. Even shows like Karamchand or Vijay Anand’s Tehkikaat are very good examples of detective thrillers. So if you make something like that, it will work irrespective of the genre or the medium, that’s what I believe.
How did you prepare yourself for characters that do not belong to the present eraIJ The first was your role in Kai Po Che and now Byomkesh Bakshy.
It’s easy, since you have the reference and history to back you up. Reading history is the first thing that I do before I start working on the character. The first step is to understand the world that the film is set in. like for this film, I did my research to understand what was Kolkata in the 1940s, what exactly was happening, why it was like a melting pot of cultures with Americans, Chinese and Japanese coming in, and underworld was also thriving then. I also make sure to watch few films of that generation because in last 20 years, general people aspire to be like the stars of that era, so if you want to understand the guy in 1940s, his aspirations could be those films that were made at that point of time. You need to know about the world the film is set in and make yourself a part of that world. While doing this film, I was not using my mobile phone, Internet for over nine months and I didn’t drink mineral water. These things help you believe that you have the right to be that character. This is how I normally prepare for my roles but it was prominent to prepare this way to play Byomkesh Bakshy. The most fundamental for every actor is to forget about yourself for some time and think that you are the character, if you can convince yourself, then you can convince everyone else.
What is that one quality of Byomkesh Bakshy that you personally likedIJ
He was more of a listener. Even I am like that in real life.
You have often spoken about your interest in history, did that contribute in your choosing filmsIJ
No, my choices have nothing to do with my interest in history or my ideas about many things. I don’t even think how commercially viable the script will be. It is all intuition. I have read many books to understand what is the right kind of script but I never use that knowledge. So my choice is never logical, it is always intuitive. I read the script and leave it and if there is nothing in the script that I can put my finger to but I am still thinking about it, I read it again and say yes to it.
You have been the choice of ace directors in the industry. What do you think make them believe in you.
I think it is just auditions that make them choose me. I gave an audition to all my films and I feel that one thing that the directors react to is passion. I want to learn. The third thing can be that I understand simple emotions a bit more than many others.
After you made a transition from TV to films, what made you find your footing in the industry that mostly works on star-driven formatsIJ
Belief...that’s one thing that has always worked for me. I was at Delhi College of Engineering and I dropped out thinking that I will be a dancer. It was sheer belief, I was not a dancer then but I became a professional dancer. When I thought to be an actor I started with Barry John’s acting school in Delhi and I became an actor. Everyone told me that doing TV is difficult but I did it. Then I was told that it is difficult to get into films, now I am here. The most important thing is in your head you should believe in yourself. Talent is required, hard work is mandatory but the most important thing is belief.
What made you decide to drop out from college, when you had no connections in the industryIJ Where was that belief coming fromIJ
I tested it. I never knew I would be an actor. The idea of becoming an actor was as unlikely as the idea of becoming the prime minister. There were no connections or money to back me and I was in Delhi, not in Mumbai. I started with Shiamak Dawar’s acting classes and I danced with the stars. I went to Barry and he told me that I am a good actor. I thought this is something that is there and when I do it I don’t want to think about anything else. Even if I don’t get paid for it, this is what I want to do. I dropped out of college, went to Mumbai, not to give auditions but to do theatre. In Mumbai, I stayed in Versova with seven guys in a one room with kitchen for many years.
Versova is the place where most aspiring actors stay and majority around me was of theatre actors. I used to give tuitions to eleventh and twelfth grade students in Maths and Physics for my finances and my sisters helped me a lot. I did theatre for two and a half years, I trained myself in martial arts and then more of dancing in styles like ballet and one fine day when I was doing a play in Tata Theatre, Balaji people spotted me and asked me if I wanted to do TV. I had never faced the camera but I said yes and it went well for over two years but then again I stopped learning, though I was being paid well. There was fame but I was not learning so I decided to do a film-making course and I was going abroad for that. I was getting film offers after I quit, I rejected over eight films. Post TV, when I quit there was a time of three-four months when I was figuring out where to go, I was getting movie offers but I didn’t like them. Then I was called for the auditions of Kai Po Che and after reading the script I thought that this is the film I want to do so I dropped the idea of going abroad. So there was never really a point where I decided to move from TV to films.
You seem to have maintained a low profile…
I party a lot but with my friends at my place. I am a thorough professional, when I say yes to the film, I work very hard for it and that’s it.
Do you think that it is the best time for young actors in the industryIJ
Truly it is because of the kind of films that we are making. We are exposed to world cinema, we understand Birdman and American Sniper. We are sensitive to those emotions so we want to make that kind of cinema. There are multiplexes to back this approach, the number of screens is increasing, so there is a room for that kind of cinema. It is now slightly more easier for each actor, be it from TV or theatre, to come and act in films.
How did TV train you to be a better actorIJ
Every kind of skill that I have is there through subconscious learning. There are a few fundamental things like TV is a close-up medium and everything gets magnified while in films everything depends on the lens, in theatre you have to interact with every single person at the same time. These fundamentals differ as per the medium. But learning about this abstract skill called acting is subconscious. I know that Byomkesh Bakshy is my most honest portrayal of the character so far, I can feel it, I can’t tell you what I really learnt.
You have religiously followed dance as a passion throughout…
I think like a dancer when I act. I understand the rhythm of the scene. One very important thing about Dibakar is that he understood that without my telling him this. I remember he used to come and give me some random track to rehearse as a scene, so you get to know about the rhythm of the scene. It is not the lines that are important, it is the subtext that is important, it is what is in between the lines that is important.
After Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!, you are also doing a biopic on MS Dhoni. Why biopicsIJ
I am very much interested in biopics. While doing a biopic, as an actor you need to convince yourself that you can be that character. You also need to present yourself in a way that people who have an opinion about that character are convinced and they should be able to make a visual reference to that character after watching you on screen. It is an interesting process to prepare yourself for a biopic.