JOIN USFarhan Akhtar cannot be slotted. Just when you thought he was a new and promising writer, director (Dil Chahta Hai in 2001), he also produced his next film (Lakshya in 2004) and wrote lyrics too (Bride And Prejudice in 2004). When you classified him as a writer-film-maker who dabbled in lyrics, he turned lead actor and singer with Rock On!! (2008). He then went on to act in outside assignments, and led a music band and performed live acts, even composing songs!
After playing the cameo of a gangster in the recent Daddy, he is now set to get his second consecutive (and outside) release in two weeks as an actor in Lucknow Central. Here, he plays an aspiring singer who fulfils his ambitions of forming a band in jail, while serving a life term, and then ‘composes’ a plan to escape!
A gripping tale
How confident is he about this film? “I am happy and proud that I have done a good film,” he replies. “With Ranjit Tiwari’s grip on visual storytelling, it is difficult to think that this is just his debut movie as a director. And the positive response to the trailer and the music fills me with a sense of optimism.” Farhan has words of praise for all his formidable co-actors, including Diana Penty, Rajesh Sharma and Deepak Dobriyal.
What inputs did he give to Ranjit, being a director himself? “We all give inputs to a director, from assistants and technicians to anybody else,” he says candidly. “When I direct, so do my actors. Such healthy inputs, which may or may not be incorporated by the director, are a part of every film, and I am not saying this just because I am an actor who is also a director. But Ranjit is a very special director, and if my judgement is right, he has a long career ahead.”
We add to that question: Farhan is also a musician, so, has he offered suggestions to the music, and has he also sung in this movie? The actor shakes his head about singing in the new film. “The music my character makes here is very different from the kind of music I play. But yes, I listened to some of the tunes while they were being made,” he replies.
How deep is he into music now, and since when has he become so passionate about it? “I have always enjoyed music. Rock On!! was the tipping-point that gave me the opportunity to sing professionally, and it felt very good. So, I wanted to take it further, but I realised that discipline is needed,” Farhan avers.
Does he get time for that discipline? Farhan gives a wry smile and says, “There was this great pianist who said that if he does not practise one day, he can hear the difference. If the gap is two days, the conductor can hear the difference, and if it is three days, the audience can make out the difference. I keep practising as much as I can, and take along my guitar whenever I am travelling or shooting. But it’s not the easiest thing in the world to manage even an hour, and I do feel a bit sad about this.”
What was the best part about doing this character? “It was a nice change to play a guy from a small town, that too from Uttar Pradesh where my roots are. Moradabad, from where my character comes, and Lucknow, have different social demographics. Most of the research was done by Ranjit with our writer — the kind of clothes I should wear, my attitude, and so on. We saw a lot of videos and pictures, and after that, I had to get the language right, like the local colloquialism,” Farhan states.
The actor adds that he did not do specific research on his character. “I wanted it to be that way. This is an innocent man who is suddenly put in jail for something he did. The dynamics of a jail, like how to interact with the other prisoners and the police and staff, the factions in the jail, and how much someone like him should keep to himself were things a prisoner learns slowly with time,” he says.
There were reports that he also visited his ancestral village for the very first time when promoting the film in Lucknow. How was that experience? “That was an overwhelming experience,” he admits. “I got very emotional going to the house my great-grandfather built. Some of my cousins had met me in Mumbai or elsewhere, but it was different meeting them in their homes.”
Does such an experience change something deep within? Farhan muses on this question and says, “I don’t know. But it is very interesting that you now get a certain feeling of belonging to some place you never came to before and realising the advantages of being born there. I have always been in Mumbai, I love this city, but I realise how fortunate I am about how it all happened. My father (Javed Akhtar) himself had visited them about three years ago for the first time and had asked me to do the same whenever possible.”
On current cinema
How does he assess the reason why so many films failed this year? Is it because we are moving away from our roots? “I think that the audience is rightfully demanding good stories. When we read a book, we are watching its film in our head. But in a film, amidst the window-dressing and hungama, maybe we are losing sight of the fact that the story is not good, or being told well. The audience is telling us to focus more on the story than the spectacle. And I do not think it’s about stories rooted in India, though this is my own perception, and I may be wrong. I think any universally appealing story should work,” he explains.
Is it also because the definition of mainstream cinema is changing? Farhan says thoughtfully, “But the definition of mainstream cinema has always kept changing! Change has always been constant because cultures are evolving, and once the social environments change, so does the mood of the people. So, at one time, the audience may ask for escapism, and at other times, they would not want escapism. What is important is that the film-maker should not compromise on his vision and rely on the only thing he can — his instinct. This instinct is a combination of everything — what he is excited about making, what he feels the audience wants to watch, on which scale he should make it depending on the universality of the issue, if any.”
Now busy in producing Gold with Akshay Kumar, with Fukrey 2 wrapped up, and Gully Boy soon to take off, Farhan Akhtar is looking at blending his films and music fruitfully in times to come.