The obnoxious husband in English Vinglish, the commissioner of police in Delhi Crime, the mystic lover in Parched, the retired colonel of Aiyaary, the family head in the short, Chutney—there is virtually nothing Adil Hussain cannot do, or has not been doing since he began in cinema. Indian films (Hindi and regional), international assignments, short films, TV serials in India and overseas, web series—Hussain’s affair with the camera is a lustrous, never-ending panorama.
Adil Hussain on working with Paresh Rawal in The Storyteller, “He is a veteran who knows everything, still his humility is amazing”
Adil Hussain is now set to play one of the most interesting characters of even his illustrious oeuvre in Disney+ Hotstar’s The Storyteller. Paresh Rawal plays the title role, while Hussain essays an insomniac businessman. On Zoom, we chat up with the easygoing actor.
What is the story of The Storyteller?
This is a great story, written by Satyajit Ray and based on something that happened to him in Hollywood. The question it asks is this: Who owns a story, the one who tells it to you or the person who writes it? My first thought was “How interesting and ambiguous! Oh my God! I haven’t ever thought about this!” The film explores a gray area of life. What is IP (Intellectual Property)? Who should own a story, who are we paying for the story? The film is almost like a thriller, considering the twists and turns. It’s beautiful!
By those parameters, every parent and grandparent in India should have ownership of Ramayan and Mahabharat!
(Laughs heartily) Yes!
How was it doing a film with Ananth Narayan Mahadevan? He veers between potboilers and weightier movies.
This is my second film with him of four! I did a single scene in The XPose and I am now doing two more: The Confession and The Past Tense. Like me, he does some films to pay his bills, and some to satiate his dil (heart). But he has a passion for good stories, keen eyes and remarkable clarity. He will not take one extra take for things like camera angles etc.
You too have done your share of potboilers like Charles Aur Main, Agent Vinod, Ulajh and more.
Yes! One has to balance the bills and dil aspect! And they subsidize my attendance and presence in—and contribution to—artistic cinema!
So how do you choose, or more importantly, reject the roles that come to you?
Well, the rejection does not start with me, but with those who haven’t cast me! (Smiles) There are directors who tell me, “We were thinking about you, but then…!” And I say, “It’s okay, fine!”
A role must appeal to my deeper senses. It must have a meaning. I don’t just want roles that fit my vision, for my vision must be broadened or broken. If a role shows some nuances and subtle aspects and some empathy towards human conditions, I go for it.
Look, we all have our grays and goals. Roles are not binary—they are not black or white! But I will not participate in a film or role that does not celebrate…let me put it this way, the diversity of human conditions and behaviour, or talk about our propensities. I try to do any script where the director is good enough to bring that about and realize it through his or her craft on screen. Of course, there are films that I can’t do because of dates, or because of the financial constraints. But then, there are some films that I have done free of cost as well.
Having done a spectrum of work across all genres and formats here and abroad, what do you see as the differences and approaches between all the filmmakers with whom you have worked ?
I don’t think there is a real difference. Indian talents are amazing and we have no dearth of them. But as my teacher once said, “Only a jeweller can detect a diamond inside a rock.” I think that we have lesser people in India like that, to detect the diamond, finance and facilitate the process to bring him or her out, and bring talents together. That extremely intense wish for excellence seems to be less here.
Subhash Ghai, with whom you have worked, once told me, “Ideas don’t make films. Scripts do.”
I fully agree! Like there is this amazing director Rima Bhaskar from Assam, who is making brilliant films though she has never been trained in any film school. If she is given better facilities and moneys, she can do wonders! There are hundreds of such names in the North-East alone. If the National Film Development Corporation gets a budget 100 times of what it has now, we can get more meaningful cinema amidst the mindless entertainment to make a person a rounded and more empathetic human being who can understand the beauty of life.
Based on that, how much has cinema changed or evolved you as a person?
By watching films and doing them, any actor who has been practicing acting not just for fame or money, does get to have higher values. Yes, my work has luckily changed my life, my views and idea of relationships, and how I look at truth, society and the world. You become thirsty for those aspects, and that thirst increases as you go along. I did a beautiful Marathi film, Arunoday, as the lead even though I know only four words in that language. Pareeksha by Prakash Jha, also broadened my horizon of understanding humanity as a whole. I think I have been lucky enough to get work that has made me a better person than before—I think I am gentler, softer, kinder and less arrogant now.
And probably more humorous?
Yes! (Laughs)
Lastly, how was the experience of working with Paresh Rawal?
I would call it phenomenally enriching! I started out only 10 to 15 years ago, but he is a theatre and film veteran who knows everything. Still, his humility is amazing! He would ask me after a shot, “Adil-saab, theek hua (Did I do the shot right)?” and I would say, “Sharminda mat kijiye (Please don’t embarrass me by asking this)!” He is a delight and a pleasure.
More Pages: The Storyteller Box Office Collection , The Storyteller Movie Review
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