The recurring theme in my writings is that anything can happen, because I have always been a firm believer in such a philosophy. That has been the story of my life and it has been encapsulated in my play Kucch Bhi Ho Sakta Hai.
From time to time, manifestations of my philosophy do take place and it just makes me silently affirm my faith in life. I will however share with you my latest experience, since I am sure that things are easier to believe if they are empirically proven.
As many actors of my generation, I grew up watching films of the actors I idolised. And prime among them was Robert De Niro. His genius as the middleweight boxer Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull was awesome. His other films with director Martin Scorsese were Taxi Driver and Cape Fear. And of course, there he was as the young Vito Corleone in Godfather II. All these films have stayed on with me through my professional life as an actor and I have always dreamt, or should I say fantasised, on working with De Niro. I realised that my chances were very slim as there were few roles involving Indian characters.
Two weeks ago my dreams did come true and my faith in the Kucch Bhi Ho Sakta Hai philosophy was once again proven when I was informed that I would star with De Niro in a Hollywood production titled The Silver Linings Playbook. For a moment, I couldn’t imagine that my dream of dreams had materialised… and that I would be sharing the screen with my idol. I was bowled over… and then the Kucch Bhi Ho Sakta Hai philosophy took over!
Shooting with De Niro during the next four weeks will be perhaps the most memorable days of my professional life as there will be many occasions for me to benchmark myself against my idol; one of the greats of the silver screen. But the moot point of what I am saying is that what has happened to me may well happen to you too. If you believe in yourself, then Kucch Bhi Ho Sakta Hai.
I have always believed in myself and though there were many deficiencies in the way of me becoming an actor, I never believed for a moment that they were deterrents. For example, I was bald at 23 and no bald person had ever become an established actor. Not even Yul Brynner; he shaved himself for a role. I did not come from filmi khandaan and I could not change my heritage. But I never sat down and sought precedents; I just went on in the belief that I was destined to become a great actor.
You may say that all of us dare to dream. Yes, but there is no point in just dreaming. Many of us are too scared to reach out to our dreams. It is the intensity of making the dream come true that makes the difference. So dream about life kingsize… and then try hard to make it happen.