'Acting is like dancing'

Actor Sameer Soni is best remembered for his role in, ‘A Mouthful Of Sky.’ After being in the film industry for more than a decade, the actor has now ventured into direction for the first time.

 With the shift to direction, Sameer says that he has turned a new leaf in his life. Surging forward with a positive streak, Sameer believes in holding on to his dreams, whatever it takes. In an interview with ‘Metrolife’, he talks about his experiences while working in his latest release, ‘Chalk n Duster’ and his future plans.

You play the role of Juhi Chawla’s husband in ‘Chalk N Duster’. Do you think your role would have had a lot of women wish that their husbands were like you?

Yes, I think so. Not all men are supportive of their wife’s dreams and ambitions. Here I play a man who appears to be very practical, stands by his wife when she believes in something. Juhi and I play total opposite characters in the movie. I thoroughly enjoyed the character because it brought out a different side of me.

What was it like to work with Juhi and Shabana Azmi after a long time?
They are both very experienced actors and very secure people. When all the characters involved in a project play their roles to perfection, it makes your job a lot easier. In fact, acting is like dancing because you can rarely work in isolation.

 You need to work in sync with your partner to perfect the act.

You’ve picked your clothes and styled your character for ‘Chalk n Duster’?
Yes, I have because I had to wear something that suits the character. You can’t wear one kind of costume while your character is the total opposite.

I was particular that there should be nothing artificial about the character.

Tell us about your directorial debut ‘My Birthday Song’.

This project has been on my mind for a while now. I have written and I am directing the movie as well. It has my long-time friend Sanjay Suri playing the protagonist. It’s a psychological thriller and I would like to call it a dark movie. The movie captures life in urban India which is why you will see that 60 per cent of the dialogues are English with some Hindi dialogues thrown in. You never find a person living in the City speak only Hindi or only English. It’s always a mix of both languages.

Did you always want to venture into direction?

I think direction was a natural progression because we are all storytellers in some way. And directing is not an easy task. It is indeed a tedious job where you have to look into everything from lighting, dialogues, costumes…you are translating your vision onto the big screen. While it is tedious, it is also exciting because you have your say in everything.

You have always been a little choosy about your projects. Why?

Yes, I have. Looking back, I feel it is good to work continuously. But having said that, I cannot do something, that doesn’t excite me.

Any regrets?

Yes. Sometimes, I feel I’ve said no to some of the projects that came to me and that I could have been a part of. But, I never rethink on the decisions that I’ve made. I never dwell on the ‘could-have- been’.