Naseeruddin Shah born 20 July 1950, is an Indian film and stage actor and director, and a prominent figure in Indian parallel cinema. He has won numerous awards in his career, including three National Film Awards, three Filmfare Awards and an award at the Venice Film Festival. The Government of India has honoured him with the Padma Shri and the Padma Bhushan awards for his contributions to Indian cinema. Shah has also acted in Pakistani films.
Shah was born into a Muslim family in Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh, India, as one of the three sons of Aley Mohammed Shah and his wife Farrukh Sultan. He is a descendant of a 19th-century Sayyid Afghan warlord Jan-Fishan Khan (Sayyid Muhammad Shah), who participated in the First Anglo-Afghan War and helped the British in the subsequent Indian Rebellion of 1857.
Shah did his schooling at St. Anselm's Ajmer and St Joseph's College, Nainital. He graduated in arts from Aligarh Muslim University in 1971 and attended National School of Drama in Delhi.
Anchor- Irfan
00:15 Intro/Clips from few Films and TV serials
03:02 Gulzar on Naseer’s acting prowess & versatility/Mirza Ghalib
04:33 Glimpses of theatre/Motley theatre/Benjamin Gilani/Tom Alter/ His Autobiography-And then one day/ Padma Bhushan award/Regional language Films/Pakistani & Hollywood Films/National & International Awards
07:24 Why acting & what motivates him continuing with it?/ In pursuit of achieving excellence & perfection in acting / childhood reminiscences & formative years /Exposure to Hollywood films in childhood
12:49 Art is nothing but a constant search for truth / Art cannot be classified / how classicism ruins spontaneity in terms of artistic expressions/ how classicism diverts art from intellectualism or from the truth of the art/ Realism is not the only way in acting/ An actor just conveys the truth of the writing or an idea or belief or a propaganda
16:22 Stanislavsky, Bresson and Method acting / Fetishization of character/How he understood Brecht after many years post NSD and the need to manifest a character objectively/ Difference between becoming a character (Method) and consciously doing a character (Brecht) and how he transformed his style from being a Methodical to Brechtian style
19:56 How his character in Paar was manifested via relating with old memories, consciously being empathetic & imaginative & without taking resort to method acting (i.e. to become a character Psychologically)/ /Mirch Masala was accomplished remembering his maternal grandfather
22:32 Memoirs of family and early days / His autobiography and how much he has included and excluded stories or people/ his relationship with father
25:24 Hindi & Hollywood films & difference in execution / Dilip Kumar / Udan Khatola & Wizard of Oz / Influence of Hollywood due to its excellence in execution / Learning Urdu at this age
28:40 Why is there a constant tussle between an actor and a director? Role of an actor from the perspective of objectivity/ An actor is a ‘coolie of communication’ in reference to Dr. Shreeram Lagoo’s autobiography ‘Lamaan’/ How this realisation gave him a sense of satisfaction & understood the reason of being an actor
35:35 On failing in 8/9 class & middle class view on failure & assessment in education system / how theatre at the age of 14 helped in self-motivation and realising the importance of observing human behaviour/Grandfather- a Nawab, his other relative who pulled rickshaw and one who did begging/ Cricket & Acting / NSD training in learning the skills/ Bathroom actor-self observation/ Pulling memories from real life characters to enact Sparsh, Bhavni Bhavai
44:20 Result of no planning for tomorrow by the Nawabs/ Film stars
46:02 Ebrahim Alkazi, Satyadev Dubey & Habib Tanveer / western theatre vs indigenous theatre / Flaws in NSD’s approach and failure in developing an indigenous theatre which is rooted in India like Satyadev Dubey & Habib Tanveer/ Alkazi stressed on discipline and finesse of an urban or western theatre but lacked knowledge on Mahabharat , Dastangoi, Ramayan- the indigenous stories & styles
56:24 How Popular cinema & Television is shaping a subversive & regressive thoughts at subconscious level / Mohan Agashe/ An audience or actor’s role in shaping this process
58:31 Why act in Blueberry Hunt kind of films?
1:01:36 Pursuing passion of story reading for taking literature to society/Audio books (reading text aloud), Zia Moyeddin, Dr Jameel Gulrays , Rajendra Gupta / Chaupal , Atul Tiwari, Shyam Benegal ,Satyajit Ray ,Mrinal Sen Khwaza Ahmad Abbas / songless movies, V Shantaram/70s film movement, Ketan Mehta, Govind Nihlaani, Anurag Kashyap, Vikram Aditya Motwane,
1:04:18 Why I act in commercial cinema if I hate it so much?/Joginder/Shammi Kapoor/Rajshree Films/ Dirty Picures/Tridev/Karma/Chamatkar/Bachchan/Balraj Shahani/Dilip Kumar/Role of entertainment
1:10:36 Thanking note by anchor Irfan and a collage of photos & feedback on Guftagoo