Director’s Talkies

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Movie still from Saheb Biwi and Gangster

Both parts of Gangs of Wasseypur (GOW) revolve around one character — Ramadhir Singh, played by Tigmanshu Dhulia. He was as essential to the movies as the guns and the violence. But the director-turned-actor humbly says “it was just a gesture of friendship towards Anurag Kashyap.”

“I never thought of acting though I am a trained actor from the National School of Drama. My interest was always in direction, and when I reached Mumbai in 1989 to make something of my talent, I did not pursue acting, I straight away went to assist directors,” says Tigmanshu.
The role of Ramadhir Singh was well appreciated, but Tigmanshu had no idea what Ramadhir Singh was all about. “He just asked me if I would play this character in GOW, since we are friends and I had to return his gesture (Anurag acted in Tigmanshu’s film Shagird), I agreed. It was much later when he gave me the script that I realised that the character runs into two movies and was 75-80-years old. I soon realised that I was trapped,” says Tigmanshu jokingly. “But then there was no pressure on me to perform. I thought, even if I am going to do badly, people are not going to say I am a bad actor because I am not an actor. I am only too glad that audiences liked my performance,” he adds.
Tigmanshu visited Delhi in December to announce the highlights of Delhi International Film Festival, and he hopes that with this film festival the capital will get its due. “I have thought about it a lot. I always consider myself an outsider in Mumbai. But I still feel Delhi is not an apt place for a film industry. Who will give the industry security? There are late nights, there are girls working, there are dancers, there are premiere parties, there is a lot of glamour involved with the film industry — who is going to protect that? Delhi is infamous for being an unsafe city. Mumbai is better because of the existence of the tradition of filmmaking. The industry has been there for so many years. The cops know, the authorities know and it is easy to manage things. But I think if you have to set this industry elsewhere, then Uttrakhand would probably be the best bet because it is accessible, safe, close to Delhi and the crime rate is zero,” he feels.
Talking about his plans, Tigmanshu says now that GOW is over, he is going to concentrate on direction. “GOW was like a holiday for me. I was planning to go to Allahabad during my break as I belong there. And Anurag gave me this chance as we were shooting in Benaras. Now that the job is over, I am going to concentrate on my future projects. I am wrapping up the sequel of Saheb Biwi and Gangster and will release it in January. Then I have Milan Talkies to look after,” says Tigmanshu.
Meanwhile, he is also enjoying the laurels he is getting for the Irrfan Khan starrer Paan Singh Tomar that he directed. “Paan Singh got a good response when I showcased it at the Osian Film Festival in Delhi. These appreciations act as fuel for me to make good cinema,” says Tigmanshu, who agrees that his movies make good business alongside typical Bollywood blockbusters that he calls studio movies.
“Our films exist side by side. The audience is mature enough to accept movies made by directors like me, Anurag and Dibakar, and they still watch movies made by big studios. There is no divide, and this is the beauty of Bollywood,” he concludes.