Filmfare Editor-in-Chief Jitesh Pillaai pens a heartfelt note on the incomparable genius of Naseeruddin Shah, an actor who doesn’t just play characters, but becomes them. From Manthan and Masoom to Ijaazat and Mirza Ghalib, here’s celebrating a performer whose craft continues to inspire generations.
He makes you believe. In a cause. In a commitment. If he fights for the dispossessed, then he will browbeat you into believing that the poor cowherds are in peril against industrialisation like he did in Manthan (1976). He can be mutinous as in Junoon (1978). Okay, so he cheated, but you want Shabana Azmi to forgive him in Masoom (1983) and just for that heartbreaking final scene with his older brother in Monsoon Wedding (2001), Naseeruddin Shah deserves our standing ovation and admiration.
Actors are swathed in a layer of angst and understanding. Actors don’t come out of gyms. Actors channel some strange energy from ether and become the character. Naseer “becomes” the character. He makes you cry; he can be loathsome, and every single time he reminds you that actors have a tiny machinery ticking within them that switches on just like their craft.
If you want to see technique, you need to watch him on stage. What a marvellous beast of an actor. His voice modulation, his ability to create a mosaic of memorable characters as he did in Ismat Apa Ke Naam.
Nishant (1975), Katha (1982), Sparsh (1980), Aakrosh (1980), Chakra (1981), Ijaazat (1987), Mirza Ghalib (1988) – I’ve lost count of the times he’s enthralled.
As a moviegoer, I cannot for once imagine the movies without him. I’m told he’s irascible; he has a huge temper and can be graceless on many occasions. But my fleeting meetings with him have always been memorable, and I shall retain that happy memory.
Great acting is when actors make you look beyond yourself, show you a sliver of truth and want you to rediscover another world. They show you their wounds, and they show you their souls. They change you forever. Happy birthday Sir. Eternally grateful that I could learn to love the movies in the times you have inhabited it.
