JAIPUR: Bollywood actor Naseeruddin Shah did not get his first role in Nishant merely for his acting prowess, rather, his unconventional looks instantly struck a chord with the film’s director, Shyam Benegal, who cast him for a pivotal role in the film.
“I had lost a girlfriend for not being a good-looking man who would make it to the movies, but I got the job because I wasn’t good-looking,” Shah said.
The 65-year-old actor was in conversation with writer and actor Girish Karnad at the ‘And Then One Day’ session on the opening day of the Jaipur Literature Festival.
Interestingly, there is a long history behind the camaraderie between the two.
Karnad was the director of the prestigious Film and Television Institute of India when Shah was a student there, and it was he who had suggested Shah’s name to Benegal, who was sure that he didn’t want a ‘conventional chocolaty boy’ for the role.
“Once Naseer had come to me, and asked if him being a Muslim would be an obstacle to his acting career. I had told him that Dilip Kumar was a Muslim too who was loved by many and all,” said Karnad.
But even after making a powerful debut, Shah recollected how ‘instant fame’ was difficult to come by and how he had to go through a period of struggle when he was relatively ‘jobless’.
However, Benegal’s Manthan, which also featured Karnad, changed the course of his career and Shah was seen in a slew of films like Sparsh, Aakrosh and Mandi that required a method actor and not a star.
Yet, the lament of not being a star has disappointed Shah, who admitted that he hadn’t joined the industry to do ‘art movies’, but slowly came to terms with his ordinary looks.
“I never became a star and I have to admit that it was disappointing,” said Shah.
“But then I started examining my face and realised I could alter it. Even from my early years, when I was 15 or 16, I had the habit of growing a beard, and my greatest achievement was when my mother couldn’t recognise me,” he added.
Even if the seasoned actor thought he wasn’t a star, the reception he receives from the crowd is overwhelming. They applaud and cheer at his mere appearance, which reconfirms how people love him for his acting and his ordinary looks which have become unconventional in their own way.