"I would like to be the first Asian James Bond"
Sushant Singh Rajput might be just a few films old, but he has never failed to impressed us. Be it as a loyal friend in KAI PO CHE!, a confused lover in SHUDDH DESI ROMANCE or a faithful boyfriend in PK, he has always entertained the audience to the fullest. The charming actor, who will now be seen in the crime thriller DETECTVE BYOMKESH BAKSHY! which releases today (3rd April, 2015), in an exclusive interview to Glamsham.com, spoke about his film, his preparation for the character, his favourite detective character, the Khans of Bollywood and much more. Excerpts from the interview:
Had you seen the television series of Detective Byomkesh Bakshy before shooting for the film?
I saw it, but not as a preparation for Byomkesh. I saw it when it used to come back in 90s when I was a kid. So, it was just like I had faint memories of it when I started shooting for it. The visuals, the mannerisms of Rajit Kapoor, the music & the sketch we use to have of Byomkesh Bakshy, those were the slight distinct memories I had, but never as a preparation for the film. It was only after I did the film is when I saw everything about Byomkesh has already been done.
Did those faint images help you in any way while preparing for the role?
No, they don't. I think the script does and just because I read all the stories of Sharadindu (Bandyopadhyay), who wrote Byomkesh, all the 32 stories, is why I got an idea of the character and the world it was set in and also because the film that Dibakar wrote was a completely new interpretation of the same thing. So, I didn't have to.
When Rajit was playing the character of Byomkesh, he was loved by almost everyone and as it was a television series, it wasn't too glossy still people enjoyed it and religiously watched it, so do you think people will be able to connect with the film just the same way as they did with the TV series?
We need to understand why people got connected with that TV series. We always have this fascination of something that is slightly complex & how a person is very seasoned and his style of working solves it, but the process of is what fascinates us. So yes, why not, we are very clear about our intent as film makers and actors. Dibakar always seeks honesty in whatever we do as actors and just because the script is so fascinating, it's written in a very tight way and also there is a sense of abstractness in the film. And also I'll tell you, this Byomkesh Bakshy is not as seasoned as Rajit Kapur was in the TV series because this is his first case; he is just fresh out of college. He is intelligent and he thinks because nobody is, he has this seduction for anything & everything that's intelligent. So he gets himself into this complex case and then what happens is going to be like how he transforms while solving the case. He is intelligent, but he is not seasoned. He still lacks those fundamental abilities which a very seasoned detective must have. It's like an amateur doing something and very gradually transforming into something.
''The idea of doing something new with the same old thing was very fascinating''
When you were offered this film, a Dibakar Banerjee film, how was your reaction?
I was very excited; number one-it was Dibakar Banerjee's film, number 2- it was YRF's film and this never happened, Dibakar doing a film with YRF and then the idea of doing something that has already been there for the last 50-60 years doing that in a very personal and a very innovative way. So this idea of doing something very new with the same old thing was very fascinating.
Was it a conscious decision on your part to do DETECTIVE BYOMKESH BAKSHY!?
Of course, it's always conscious. But, I don't think about the audience when I say yes to a film or when I am shooting for the film. Its only after I am done with the film is when I think that everybody must come and watch it and should like it so that they get entertained and also, I get to do movies like these like I always wanted to do. It's a very conscious decision of doing films.
Byomkesh as a character has always been morally right; in this film will we see any grey shades of you?
Yes you will. You definitely will because more than his idea of what is moral, immoral & what is right & what is wrong, he is a secret of truth and he is fascinated by anybody who is intelligent irrespective of how moral he is. So it's his fascination of solving something very complex and at the same time having that company of somebody who can give him a very intelligent challenge. So these two things are most important to him and not the moral & not what is wrong according to somebody else's point of view. There are many scenes in which this guy knows that the other guy is wrong (the villain) and he wants to have a good conversation, he wants his company just because he is getting seduced by his intelligence. So that thing is the most important for him, also solving something that is slightly complex and then comes morality & everything, so yes, grey shades, very much.
You all haven't revealed much about the villain and there were reports that Aamir Khan was offered this role, so is the villain somewhere close to Aamir or someone who is all well-known as him or we haven't seen him at all on screen?
You have seen him but then we are not telling you who the villain is just because that is one of the things that I solve in the film. So if I tell you who the villain is right now, you will lose the curiosity when you are actually watching the film. So, that is the reason of not telling you who the villain is and nothing else. I can assure you about one thing, he is a fabulous actor and I have done workshops with him. Sorry, he has taken workshops of me as an instructor.
''I don't think about the audience when I say yes to a film''
You have not been the sole lead in most of your previous films, and DETECTIVE BYOMKESH BAKSHY! is entirely your film, if you are offered a good script where you will be playing the second lead, will you accept it?
Of course. I don't think how or what are the things that make a script powerful, but there is something that I can understand when I read a script that ok, this is something that I need to do. Irrespective of the first lead or the second lead, irrespective of the duration that character is there in the film, I'll say yes to a film. So I'll do another film like PK or KAI PO CHE! even after say my three solo hero film's success. The film is more important and getting to be a part of the film is more important.
What about television? If something appealing comes up, would you mind going back?
I am thinking of something that I might be able to pull off. So, we might be doing something on TV and also on digital platforms very soon.
You are amongst the most promising new comers of this industry, how do you feel about it?
I feel very good. I never thought thinking about all the logical reasons that can help me to be in this industry and survive and get the kind of roles that I am getting, so it was a very distant ambition but at the same time I was very sure that one day just because of the sheer reason of enjoying what I do is why I'll get a chance in Bollywood and I'll survive. So these two ideas were always there. And right now when I am actually doing it, I feel fortunate and at the same time I feel very very confident that if the reason remains the same, of me working in this industry, I will survive and I will, I think, do a much better job in the near future.
Which is your favourite detective character?
Karamchand and Sherlock Holmes.
Did you take any reference from any of these characters?
No no, why should I? You know, what happens is even if you don't want to, you are an influence somewhere and subconsciously you take something, the style of it, the kind of pauses they take or the style they have while they are thinking or solving the case, so even if you don't want to, you start imitating them. And as I said Dibakar is somebody who will not say ok to a take if he doesn't see honesty in the performance. So there was no relation whatsoever. He told me very categorically not to watch anything, although I have seen Sherlock Holmes, but not for the preparation of the film, I wanted to approach it in a very personal & honest manner.
Did you have any creative inputs?
Ya, I did a research for 4-5 months before starting the film. I was doing nothing but preparing for this role and that why I told you that the script is so important because it forces you to think what could be right and that's why you do the film. So, Dibakar told me exactly what are the things that I shouldn't do. I was there in Kolkata for five months, though I wasn't required, I was with the team of DETECTIVE BYOMKESH BAKSHY! just to do my home and I can't put up my finger on the things that I learnt but the interactions I had with all the people & families, we had lunches & dinners together and by just through those conversations, I got to know a few things about Kolkata and the people belonging to Kolkata; why they think the way they think, that was most important. Then thinking about the 1940s and getting the History correct, there were so many things happening in 1940s and why Kolkata was the most important city for Britishers in India at that point of time. It is the cultural capital of India, it is the procession, it is the city of palaces, it is the city of joy. Kolkata was the second most important city for Britishers after London, so why? Why the Chinese guys were there? Why the Japanese were seduces to invade? Why American GI's were there? Why was opium trade happening? Why the underworld was thriving at that point of time? So to understand that, gave me a lot of insight on what the normal mind set & mentality of the people would have been in 1940s, also understanding about this guy, because he wanted to become a detective when everyone wanted a very secure job, so why that. So yes, I did all these homeworks and it helped me a lot.
''Kolkata was the second most important city for Britishers after London''
Is there something that you had to unlearn for this character?
I had to unlearn many things. You know what happens with an actor is when I started learning the art in theatre & TV and what happens is we develop tools, just because on off days when we are not feeling it, we can fall back on those tools & we'll still convince you that I am feeling something, but Dibakar was very smart, he was smart enough to see through that process and he told me that what everything that you're thinking do not think of approaching this character, I'll tell you how to go about it. This is the material, this is the script read, memorise everything that you want to, but then I'll tell you what not to do. So what not to do was important that every time I come up with something very dated like not very honest is when he stopped me. So everything I did was so honest that I have never done it before and I will always continue to have the same process for approaching a character for all my films that I'll do. So it is one thing I can assure you, I don't know if that's very convincing or more convincing than what I did or what I had already done in my films, but one things this is the best performance till date, in my head. And I'll tell you a reason for it; this is the most honest approach to acting that I have taken up till now.
You followed Dibakar's version of the character?
Ya, of course, I have to. Every technician, every actor has to be in the same world that a director & the filmmaker have been thinking. We can't come up with our own interpretations.
What was the though behind modernizing the 1940s era in the film?
The way we are telling the story is contemporary, but everything that you see the frame- the objects, the Kolkata, the way they are behaving, everything is very nuanced & period correct. It's only the form of communication that is different because we want to relate to the youth of today, we want to tell them the story of 1040s in a way that they can understand and get excited about. So, the editing is important, the music is important. And the music is very relevant because it gives you that jerk so that you start seeing the visuals even more closely. If a director knows how to use the music, if it is slightly in contrast with the visuals is why people will sit down and look down to the visuals. So the communication is very contemporary, the eye & lenses are very contemporary, the grammar & narrative options are very contemporary, but the thing that you see in each and every frame is very period correct.
You are a dancer & you love dancing, so will we see you dancing in this film?
I always knew that I won't get to dance in this film because Byomkesh cannot dance, so how can you possibly have a dance number where Byomkesh is dancing, but we came up with a very interesting idea of having a song that is independent of the film, but actually tries to communicates something about the film. So we wanted to tell to the audience that there is a Byomkesh in everybody of us, we just have to let it go and come out clean. So what happens in the video is Sushant is there, he enters the frame and gradually he gets to know that there is Byomkesh in him, so that the video about.
Did dancing make you happy?
Of course! Every time I dance be it in birthday parties, marriages or when nobody is watching, I just love it.
''In my head, this is the best performance till date''
The roles you have played till now, which one can define Sushant the best?
If you are asking which character is close to me, I don't know because they are my own extensions, but the approach, of course Byomkesh Bakshy.
Is there any role that you would like to portray?
Mostly it's the scripts, but if I had to take one name then I would like to be the first Asian James Bond.
Have you ever spied or wanted to spy on someone?
I always do. And I think everybody does, all the time.
The Khan's have been an inspiration to many and the new comers look up to then and follow their footsteps. Which Khan's footstep are you following or you wishes to follow?
There are a few things about every Khan that make them who they are. So what I will do is I will sit down scrutinize, get the best qualities of all the Khans and there is going to another different interpretation of all these Khans; better, much better.''
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