“Acting is a worthless profession. One wants to be an actor to portray different personalities and have fun. But that is all you can do as an actor! Along the journey, one realises that you need to do much more in life. So as and when I feel for a cause, I try and associate myself with it and believe me, my role is quite marginal in most cases,” says actor Naseeruddin Shah, at the launch of a television series, Nazar Ya Nazariya, that will feature real-life stories of visually impaired and blind achievers in India.
Shah plays a narrator in the show and will introduce and conclude each episode. The show will be aired on Doordarshan and is an initiative of the Score Foundation. “I feel that the show attempts to make a beginning towards creating an attitudinal change towards the blind. It is a mammoth task and I hope we will be able to change the mindset of atleast few people,” adds Shah.
The show marks the return of the senior Bollywood actor on the small screen after a long gap. He had been a part of fiction-based dramas like Mirza Ghalib, Bharat Ek Khoj and Tarkash in the late 80s and early 90s. “The content of Indian television is worse than the Hindi movies and the trouble is people are getting addicted to it like a daily fix. Most of the television shows are collectively aimed at dumbing down the intelligence of the collective audience,” says Shah.
So he does not really watch television? “I only watch it when there is a cricket or tennis match. At times, the National Geographic as well. Even Cartoon Network is more entertaining than most shows on television. But as a medium, the reach and power of television can’t be denied. So if significant statements are to be made, documentaries would be the ideal format,” he opines. Shah puts forth clearly that he would never do fiction for small screen.
But haven’t shows that aim at reflecting social reality always met with lukewarm response on the small screen? “The flaw is not in the content here. It is more about the way it is presented with very drab tone, heavy background music and grim narrative. Look at the kind of shows we produce on wildlife and what David Attenborough does on BBC! There is a world of difference. It is all about andaz-e-baya,” quips Shah.
The 63-year-old actor is very happy with theatre as a medium. “I love acting and directing for the stage. It gives me freedom and scope, which no other medium does,” he declares.
Talking about how Hindi cinema also chooses to portray stereotypes, Shah says, “Post Sparsh, who has made a Hindi film that looks at blind people with empathy? It has been more than three decades after that! Our filmmakers are utterly spineless and insensitive. A film like Khuda Kay Liye is made in Pakistan and not in India!”
However, Shah is also quick to point out that a certain section of filmmakers are making films that have a certain socio-political context. “Yes, that is happening. But their concerns are insular. However, atleast they are not living on Malabar Hills and making films about starvation deaths in Bihar!”
He further says, “There are movies being made that do reflect the problems of society. I do see a growth in the thinking process of young filmmakers today than those of the ’70s and ’80s. These professionals have more integrity, skills and access to information,” says Shah.
Talking about mainstream Bollywood cinema, the senior actor asserts, “The budgets have become bigger, promotions are done on mind-boggling scale and of course, the collections are massive. The idea of 100-crore film club reflects the mindset that the film industry has always had. It has always been about number-crunching and business.”
With remakes being the order of the day, what does he have to say about that? “The industry is finally admitting that they are doing nothing but producing remakes. Earlier they never admitted it, now that is done blatantly,” concludes Shah.