Facing the camera again

After his highly-acclaimed acting debut in Anurag Kashyap’s ‘Gangs Of Wasseypur’, film-maker Tigmanshu Dhulia — currently swamped with two back-to-back directorial undertakings — has been persuaded to face the camera again.  He will act in Ketan Mehta’s ‘Mountain Man’, a biopic on the unsung Bihari hero Dashrath Manjhi, who dug a road through a mountain from his remote village to the nearest city. 

Tigmanshu has been persuaded by Mehta to play a negative character once again. When Tigmanshu begged off, citing his water-tight schedule, Mehta insisted only he could play the part. “Ketan said he had a role for me in ‘Mountain Man’. I play the evil mukhiya (leader) of a village in Bihar. I couldn’t say no to Ketan. I’ve been a fan of his work forever. So, here I am once again heading to the badlands — all thanks to Anurag Kashyap,” says Tigmanshu. 

Having directed films like Paan Singh Tomar and Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster, Tigmanshu has no long-term acting plans. 

“I have no intention of pursuing an acting career. I am happy with direction. I did ‘Gangs Of Wasseypur’ for Anurag Kashyap. Now, I am doing ‘Mountain Man’ for Ketan. That is it. I have six to seven scenes,” he says. 

Incidentally, Tigmanshu is a trained actor from the National School of Drama.

“And just to set the record straight, ‘Gangs Of Wasseypur’ is technically not my acting debut. I had one shot with Shah Rukh Khan in Mani Ratnam’s Dil Se’,” he adds.