There is a chunky slice of audience that waits for a film starring Om Puri. In an era ruled over by smashing heroes from Jeetendra to Amitabh Bachchan and Vinod Khanna, it was really an uphill climb for Om Puri to establish himself.

The actor was recently in Kolkata in connection with the city premiere of his English film Lovesongs, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow directed by Jayabrato Chatterjee. TWF correspondent Shoma A. Chatterjee managed to corner him for a few questions

The story goes that you have not taken a single paisa for your role in this film. Is this true?
It is true. But this is nothing new. I quote my price depending on the project, the banner, the script and the film, though not necessarily in that order.

I try my best to choose good roles, preferably a little offbeat, not very commercial and I quote my rate accordingly. I am saddened by the fact that such films are hardly being made today.

So, when a project like Lovesongs comes, I am ready to help out the only way I can – by taking it up and by compromising on my fee depending on how significant the film and the filmmaker are.

What is your role in Lovesongs?
I am Aftab Jaffrey, a middle-aged professor who was once in love with Mridula Chatterjee, played by Jaya Bachchan. We could not get married because of the Hindu-Muslim issue.

Many years later, she arrives in Hyderabad for some research at the University where I teach. I live in a sprawling house that is often opened out for guests at the university.

It so happens that she walks in with suitcase in hand and we are both surprised. Mallika Sarabhai plays Rabea, my wife who has become an alcoholic and a victim of chronic depression. I enjoyed the film. Jayabrato is a confident director.

His daughter Shahana, who plays one of the two main leads, is sincere and has great potential. But the best thing was the opportunity to work with Mallika Sarabhai. We were working together for the first time.

She is a marvellous woman, independent, liberated and talented. It was wonderful knowing her.

You have been in the industry for nearly three decades now. How do you look at acting today vis-à-vis acting when you began your career?
Acting has changed its meaning over the years. In the classical sense, an actor is expected to become a mirror of the reality around him.

In today's world, we are entertaining much more than acting. An actor today must have a six-abs body, rippling muscles, a chiselled face, should know to shake his hips very well, should be a master at singing and dancing and so on.

Acting today calls for performance and not merely emoting or delivering your lines in front of the camera.

What do you look for when accepting an assignment?
I try to make a positive choice and to avoid roles and films I feel are reactionary. A good role, a good director, a good film are my markers.

My use of the word 'reactionary' is purely in its artistic and creative sense and not in any communal or political sense. This narrows my options. Sometimes, I do indulge myself, especially in films that are global or being made in English.

For East is East, we worked with language trainers who taught me the precise nuances that should come into English spoken by a Pakistani Muslim who lives in the UK, is not highly educated and is fiercely possessive of his roots.

I am learning all the time and earning much more than I earn from Indian films. In India, we do not have language trainers, so my Bangla in Mani Ratnam's Yuva was really bad but it came off because the character was caricaturized to make it a blend of the villainous and the comic.

What kind of actor would you call yourself?
I try to be as versatile as I can. I believe that all good actors must be conditioned to play all sorts of roles. There are some roles that are closer to your personality than others.

The characters that are closer to the real you, are easy to enact. Roles that are far removed from your personality need to be really worked at very hard.

I find dialogue-centric roles easier to perform. Roles like the one I did in Aakrosh are both demanding and challenging to live up to.

Any regrets?
None really except for the fact that since the 1990s, very few socially relevant films are being made. We do not have films like Aakrosh or Ardh Satya any more.

I am playing a fundamentalist maulvi in Jagmohan Mundra's new film Shoot on Sight. It is loosely based on a real incident and I think it has some social relevance.

Any advice for the younger crop of actors?
Yes. They must work hard without looking for short-cuts. They must be properly trained not only in acting but also in other things. They should treat acting like a regular profession like engineering or medicine. It is difficult not to be greedy but it is necessary to control oneself from trying to become a millionaire overnight with one or two big films and then vanish into thin air.

Can you name the ten best films of your career?
Let me try. Aarohan, Ardh Satya, Aghaat, Aakrosh, Susman, Tamas, My Son the Fanatic, City of Joy, Bollywood Calling and Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron. Among mainstream films, some of my recent favourites are, Gupt, Kurukshetra, China Gate, Maqbool and Dev.