ATUL KULKARNI, whose latest film Natarang is an entry in the ongoing Asian Film Festival being held in Mumbai tells JYOTHI VENKATESH at the music launch of the film that he is the highest paid actor in Marathi Cinema...

What made you accept the offer to play a pansy in your latest film Natarang?
The biggest challenge in front of me, when I decided to take up the role director Ravi Jadhav offered me Natarang in which I was required to play the role of Guna, the wrestler who wants to start a tamasha troupe, was physical in nature.

The toughest aspect of the role was that it is the story of a person who is an amateur wrestler with a great body, who is interested in starting a tamasha troupe.

Tell me about Natarang and the role of Guna, the wrestler cum pansy that you play in it?
Natarang is a dramatic story of an artiste on the outside of life. What intrigued me about the character of Guna was his dilemma.

A girl comes forward to be a part of his tamasha only if it has a pansy character and no one is willing to play one and a stage comes when Guna realizes that if he himself does not agree to portray the role of the pansy, his dreams of starting a tamasha troupe will end before it even begins and Guna has no other alternative but to don the role of the pansy by going on a spree of reducing his weight.

Would you state that your role in Natarang is the best as far as your career is concerned?
My role in Natarang is perhaps the best role in my career till date. The role has several layers to it, including gender politics. It is a definition of what a man is and what he should be and what happens when the definition is challenged forms the crux of the story, which ahs been set in the 70's when tamasha was a rage.

How did you prepare for the parts of the wrestler first and then the pansy?
I had to build my body initially to play the part of the wrestler and then lose my weight to suit the character of the pansy. I had to put on 15 kilos to suit the role of the wrestler and weigh 85 kilos and then lose 17 kilos for the second part, all in a span of just 43 days.

Is it true that during the next eight months when the film was being shot, you did not take up even a single offer, though some of them were meaty roles from directors who matter?
I knew that for the sake of a Marathi film, to spend almost eight months without any work is not affordable but then I would have taken up my dad's business, if money alone were my criterion as an actor.

Does it mean that at no stage did you have second thoughts about taking up the offer?
At no stage did I have any second thoughts about taking up the role in Natarang because an actor does not always get an opportunity to be a part of a subject like this. Also you cannot have everything that you want in your plate.

Do you subscribe to the view that cinema today is undergoing a change of face?
Definitely I would say yes. Stars are willing now to take risks. I am happy that times are changing and even stars are pulling good crowds for films like 'Omkara', 'Black' and now 'Paa'. It is indeed amazing that Paa is running in spite of the fact that the director has not set out to use the face value of Amitabh Bachchan in it.

Can you please elucidate your point elaborately with examples?
Today you can expect a Saif Ali Khan to do a Langda Tyagi and get away with it in a Vishal Bhardwaj film. This would not have been possible or thinkable even seven years ago.

The best thing about today's cinema is that actors are no longer slotted. Earlier a Naseeruddin Shah did not have to compete with a Jeetendra or a Dharmendra and even six years ago, I'd have got the role of Langda Tyagi, which Saif did in 'Omkara', because no one would have thought of casting a star like Saif in 'Omkara'.

Which are your forthcoming films as of today, after Natarang?
I am having up my sleeves films like 'Allah Ke Bandhe', Sagar Bellary's 'Kachcha Limbu' and Rohan Sippy's forthcoming venture with Abhishek Bachchan, besides Priyadarshan's film 'Bam Bam Bole' with Rituparna Sengupta, which is now ready for release.

How satisfied are you with the way your career has shaped till date right from Hey Ram?
I am in fact more than happy with the way my career has shaped in the last seven years since I had made my debut with Kamal Haasan's 'Hey Ram'. Kamal-ji taught me what Cinema is.

Can you evaluate your growth as an actor in the film industry?
I feel that I have indeed come a long way as an actor, when I recall my initial days as an actor in 'Hey Ram'.

I could learn a lot because I got an opportunity to work with great directors like Madhur Bhandarkar in 'Page 3' and 'Chandni Bar', Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra in films like 'Rang De Basanti' and 'Delhi 6' and actors like Kamal Haasan, Tabu and Amitabh Bachchan.

It is not about the numbers, but people with whom I have worked, because when I passed out from the National School of Drama, I did not know what Cinema was.

To what extent do you agree that you have to be loud as an actor on the stage?
I have no hesitation to admit that I hail from the stage. I would say that it is actually a misconception that you have to be loud when you act in plays. The stage has a different technique. You have to shift the temperament, because the possibilities are immense in cinema unlike on the stage, because in theatre the audience is fixed whereas in cinema, you have to fine tune to that.

On what basis do you select a film, as an actor?
I have acted in films in Tamil, Telugu, Marathi and Malayalam. I have always gone by what the script is and not the language, because language is not the criterion when I choose a film.

However, let me hasten to clarify that it does not mean that I am ready to work in a film for free. I hardly work, if I do not get good money. In fact, people say that I am the highest paid actor in Marathi Cinema.