Naseeruddin Shah exudes so much aura that it is difficult to not be taken in by that. The saving grace is that he looks down while he talks and that helped me start my conversation without being conscious. He has released his autobiography just yesterday and is getting ready for his upcoming quirky release Finding Fanny. A Times of India interview:

Who do you love the most in the world?
Myself. I think everybody feels that way about oneself. Without running down anyone else, I think each person is secure within himself, loves himself the most and is most protective of himself.

What are you like as a person?
I refrain from forming an opinion about myself, as you can't be objective. Since I am an actor, I have a little more objective curiosity, but it is all a question of how you perceive the person. The same person who I perceive as most wonderful on earth, for you, may be the most despicable and for good reason.

I like that I have the ability to persevere and that's what has helped me in good stead. I have worked at my abilities, even though it seemed from a completely hopeless position. My strengths are that I look beyond the surface, when I look at and perceive people. The surface means nothing to me whatsoever. I don't know if I am always accurate at my perception, but it helps me understand people better. One of my strengths is having a ear for the spoken word, which is what I treasure the most and enjoy the most and which is why my theatre is gradually progressing more and more towards that, rather than any kind of spectacle. I think I am a loyal friend, I am clear in my likes and dislikes, and a strength that I have discovered because of Ratna is, my love for the family. Which I thought I was beyond and I thought that I had nothing to do with, but that is a strength I have discovered in myself.

One of my weaknesses is my inability to act in popular movies, which I have tried very hard, but I have always not quite hit the mark. I have been passable in some, but never been good at it. But it is a shortcoming I have learned to live with, as I feel nature has compensated me in other ways. I don't suppose it's possible to do both. Talk about your wife Ratna Pathak Shah?
She is very organised, which is the exact opposite of what I am. I don't like living my life as a routine, as it gets very boring. She is always considering the other's point of view and that qualifies her as being extremely generous. She is kind and considerate and also very passionate and hot-tempered, so there are a lot of explosions, which is also okay by me. They are fun to get over, I suppose. She has made my life complete.

Were you not able to do commercial cinema or did you not want to do it?
Well, there is a lot of it that I don't want to do, but there is some that I did feel like doing and did, quite a lot in fact, but I was never at ease, never at home in those kind of films, never felt tested. I was cast in the role that was convenient to cast me in, but they were never challenging roles, be it Karma or Tridev, which are my two big successes. I am not particularly fond of either film. The films I love are films like Masoom, Jalwa and The Dirty Picture. I am not averse to commercial cinema and the most gorgeous film ever made is Mughal-E-Azam, followed by Pyaasa and Guide as a close third. These are my favourite films and not a Satyajit Ray film. I love Raju Hirani's films and am eagerly awaiting his next one. I like Farah Khan's films, but didn't like her last one Tees Maar Khan at all.


I loved Queen, Gangs of Wasseypur Part 1, Dev.D, Paan Singh Tomar. These are the kinds of films that we should make as they use commercial form that our audience is addicted to, and we cannot get away from that, much as I may dislike it. I would happily see a Raju Hirani, Anurag Kashyap or Ritesh Batra's new film. I am not a snob that I am made out to be. These are my favourite films and not a Satyajit Ray film. I love Raju Hirani's films and am eagerly awaiting his next one. I like Farah Khan's films, but didn't like her last one Tees Maar Khan at all. I loved Queen, Gangs of Wasseypur Part 1, Dev.D, Paan Singh Tomar. These are the kind of films that we should make as they use commercial form that our audience is addicted to, and we cannot get away from that, much as I may dislike it. I would happily see a Raju Hirani, Anurag Kashyap or Ritesh Batra's new film. I am not a snob that I am made out to be.

Do you like anyone from the current lot of actors?
Ranbir Kapoor certainly. I like Ranveer Singh as well as he is a great ball of energy, though I have not seen as much of him. Deepika Padukone is where she deserves to be, right at the top. Utterly gorgeous girl and it will be interesting to see what super success does to her, but I think her upbringing is strong enough to withstand that. I feel she is a marvellous girl and I really like her. And, of course, I love and find Nawaz, Irrfan, Manoj Bajpayee, Kay Kay Menon, Vijay Raaz, Arshad Warsi very skillful. Ranbir is not just depending on appeal to carry him through. He is a young man determined to better his work and he seems to have inherited the best parts of both his parents.

Are you a different father than what your father was to you?
I try to be. My relationship with my father was very uncomfortable and not a happening one at all. He was old school, who wanted me to always toe the line, found the concept of individuality bulls*** and was extremely disciplined. For him, I was a rebel. I didn't toe the line, did not show any inclination towards academics or doing anything useful with my life. I was obsessed with cricket, with movies and then theatre and he despaired all that. He was a part of the provincial civil service equivalent of the IAS in those days in UP. I had just done my first movie Nishant. My father otherwise never saw movies, but once he was taking a walk down the mall in Mussoorie, when he saw a poster and my name obviously struck him between the eyes, as one of the things he was afraid of was that I would change my name if I entered movies.

When I got my first film, I was overjoyous and I wrote to him, but he was held back on his reaction. He feared that I would change my name and so obviously, he was delighted that I hadn't. In those days, all actors did, Muslim actors changed their name for fear of the obvious. So I feel it was a bit paranoid of them and I don't think Dilip Kumar would have been any less successful had he been called Yusuf Khan. So, baba went straight to the theatre and saw this movie and went home and told my mum that he had seen the movie and that I had not changed my name. She got furious with him for seeing it without her, so they both went along to see it for the second time. They were a bit baffled by the movie, but relieved that it was not the usual song and dance kind of stuff. They were both quite happy and wrote me a letter each saying how happy they were.