FILM INTERVIEW: ARUNODAY SINGH
Forget Politics--the Only Place This Man Wants To Be Is In New Film 'Yeh Saali Zindagi'
While the line between Delhi politics and Bollywood entertainment is rather thin and one that is crossed regularly, there are those who see less of a blur between the two industries and more of a clear-cut demarcation. Bollywood actor Arunoday Singh is one of those people who chose his side of the fence long ago, and he is happy choosing to star in a film like Sudhir Mishra’s Yeh Saali Zindagi instead of following his grandfather’s footsteps into Congress and the mayhem that is Indian parliamentary politics.
Thoughts of a career in the world’s largest democracy brushed aside, Mr. Singh says he has one thing in common with his veteran politician grandfather Arjun Singh: the shenanigans taking place in Delhi and in government houses all across India is not too different from the games played in Bollywood and every other micro film industry in Hindustan.
In taking a few steps off the beaten path, the junior Mr. Singh finds himself in quite an interesting--and perhaps enviable--situation of portraying a gangster in this week’s release of Yeh Saali Zindagi, which stars Irrfan Khan and Chitrangada Singh. Also playing a terrorist in yesteryear’s release of Sikandar, Mr. Singh truly enjoys acting so much, it is worth dealing with the politics of the industry without even having to enter the industry of politics.
“I’ve always been interested in acting,” Mr. Singh told reporters last week as he spoke with the press about Yeh Saali Zindagi. “Since my school days, I have been doing theatre. I'm not interested in politics at all. As it is, I feel there are enough politics in Bollywood.”
Perhaps one thing Bollywood offers that politics does not is variety. Mr. Singh portrays more than just gangsters and terrorists--he's also depicted a large hunk of suave man in both Aisha and Mirch (the latter, coincidentally, is a film about the politics of sex).
Of course, variety alone is not enough to make Bollywood attractive for Mr. Singh--uniqueness and substance matter too. Apparently Mr. Singh found all of these elements in Yeh Saali Zindagi, which opens worldwide on February 4th.
“It was easy to make a decision to do this film because the script is brilliant, the role is great, and Sudhir Mishra is one of my favourite Indian directors,” the actor told the press. “I’m playing a local gangster in the film, who is from Old Delhi. My character’s name in the film is Kuldeep, who has no parents and has grown up in the life of petty crime. He has a really bad temper and is almost like a maniac, but when it comes to the girl he loves, he completely changes.”
One thing that will not change, however, is Mr. Singh’s work ethic. Immersing himself in the lead role of a romantic thriller about men who will go in the name of loving women, Mr. Singh spent countless hours perfecting his performance.
“I worked a lot on the script. I saw what it’s trying to tell me, and that helped me to create the kind of personality needed for the character,” he informed the press. “For the language, I worked a lot with the film’s dialogue writer. So, little by little, I built something.”
It helps having quite the taskmaster in Sudhir Mishra running the show as the film’s director to keep both himself and the rest of the cast and crew in check all throughout production.
“Sudhir is a wonderful person. I’m lucky to have an opportunity to work with him. He is exactly what he needs to be,” Mr. Singh said. “Some days he is very calm and jovial, but on days he wants you to deliver something, he will get you to work. There is nothing wrong in Sudhir being a hard taskmaster, which he can be at times. We are not on a holiday. I’d rather have somebody who pushes me and gets the best out of me just like Sudhir.”
Mr. Singh hopes the hard work pays off, as Yeh Saali Zindagi opens on February 4th in multiplexes and theaters around the world.
