Interview: Aftab Shivdasani

He was stuffing down Farex brand baby food at the ripe age of 14 months when the red light found the gleam in Aftab Shivdasani’s eye. More than 30 years later, that light is still flashing strong, as Aftab is now humbly building a solid resume as a top-flight Bollywood actor. After debuting as a child actor alongside Anil Kapoor in Mr. India, Aftab now has a filmography that includes gigs with Akshay Kumar (Kambakkht Ishq), Ameesha Patel (Ankahee), and Ajay Devgn (Masti). Speaking to Buzzine Magazine at the 19th Miss India America 2010 pageant, Aftab, who earned a Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut in the 1999 film Mast, talked about his future in cinema and the outlook of Indian film.

Before delving into his deep, personal sentiments of acting and international cinema, Aftab succinctly opined on the value of pageants such as the one he was invited to at the Long Beach Hilton as a special guest.

“Any kind of pageant that encourages talent, promotes the culture and, at the same time, gives (the participants) exposure of any sort of platform is good for any individual,” he candidly shared with Buzzine in a personal chat, moments before the pageant kicked off. “I support such concepts, such pageants. I have never been invited to participate as a judge, but I think it’s always good.”

Young and impressionable youth strutting their respective “stuff” down a catwalk might be good to Aftab, but thankfully, the award-winning Bollywood actor realizes there are even greater things going on around him, even though it has been a few months since the rolling credits at the end of a film has featured his name listed in prime real estate.

“I haven’t really started anything yet, but there are several projects in the pipeline. I’m a little superstitious to talk about it, but we’ll announce it in a month or so,” Aftab hinted, just before narrating his career plans and ambitions. “The passion to act, the passion to do different things everyday…I have been very fond of the camera.”

Aftab dug deeper, sharing insight with Buzzine about roles he would absolutely love to portray before hanging it up and calling it a career.

“There are two things I always wanted to do as an actor which I haven’t had a chance to do yet. I always wanted to be part of a war film — a (war) film that has a human story, not just about fighting, but with human emotion,” he insightfully told Buzzine with added weight to his voice. “I always wanted to play a man in uniform. The other one is a historical epic — a historical drama. I have a fetish for epics. I have my favorites, like Gladiator, The Last Samurai, and Braveheart.”

While he is fortunate enough to not be caught in a real-life war, Aftab’s hopes and dreams bear striking resemblance to the increasing influence and reach of Indian cinema around the world in that the multitude of South Asian film industries are gaining international recognition on an epic scale — and perhaps deservedly so.

“I think Indian films and Indian talent is being appreciated now much more than it ever was. Now there is much more awareness of what India is — Indian films, Indian talent, Indian technicians…” the humble and gracious 32-year-old actor tactfully stated to Buzzine. “It would be nice to see Indian talent on international projects, on international stages, promoting not only the culture but talent. Indian films are also going global.”

As Indian film and talent are both respectively gaining momentum worldwide, Aftab added that he and his thespian colleagues now bear a responsibility to exceed the pace of growth and find new ways foster growth into uncharted waters, ultimately resulting in even greater success than Bollywood and Indian film in general has already experienced.

Aftab’s sage-like response to Buzzine’s question about what Indian actors must do to capitalize on the increased curiosity and interest in their work was: “It’s a good time for us to be in this line of work, to have completed this amount of work. But we also have to explore other passages, other avenues in mainstream Hollywood or television, or whatever. If we can cross over, if we can do well for ourselves, why not? I think it is only a matter of time, not only for Indians in America, but also for Indians back home.”

Speaking of back home, the one place Aftab considers his home is a universe of mental stimulation, freedom, and artistic creativity.

“I’d rather be doing something that is creative, that is independent, and that stimulates me every day of my life and gives me different things to do. That is one thing that is the most attractive thing to me — as a person, I need mental stimulation. I get bored very quickly,” Aftab said. “I love creativity. I love the art much more than just the films. I think the whole excitement of being an actor, living this life, is very exciting for me. I cannot go into an office wearing a suit and a tie. I couldn’t sit in a corporate office pretending to be happy every day of my life.

Of course, Aftab has no reason to pretend about the happiness in his life. A lifelong actor exploring and expanding his creative limits, Aftab’s happiness was more than apparent during his chat with Buzzine, what with his peaceful demeanor and proverbial million-dollar smile gleaming throughout the discussion with this writer.

If Aftab can maintain that smile throughout the rest of his life, he is sure to be at the forefront of something special — not so much the growing visibility of Indian entertainers, but instead leading the way down the path of self-discovery and happiness. That is an epic role he does not have to act out, and no wars need be fought to understand his message.

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