He’s been in at least two successful Bollywood comedy franchises (think the Munnabhai and Golmaal series), but has shown more than once that he can hold his own even in the most intense of roles. In his latest film Irada, Arshad Warsi plays an NIA officer. Directed by Aparnaa Singh, the film is based on prevalent issue such as river pollution and cancer in the state of Punjab.
Then he’s going back to the two hugely successful franchises he’s part of and will be seen in Golmaal 4 and Munnabhai 3 (which begins shooting only in 2018). In the meantime, he’ll be making a comeback on the small screen this year, judging the show Sabse Bada Kalakaar on Sony Television.
But Arshad Warsi still knows all about not getting his due from the industry and struggling with a fluctuating career. In an interview with ScoopWhoop News, he speaks about:
Why Bollywood prefers to work only with a set of favorite actors
“For example, as producers Farhan Akhtar and Karan Johar, both are comfortable with their respective bunch of people. It’s absolutely fine, it is good in terms that you know how the person reacts. It makes work easy rather than getting a whole new person and trying to deal with him as you never know he could be a pain in the ass and be like ‘Oh why did I take him?’
So it’s being safe as you’re putting in so much of money in the film.”
His recent statement about doing ‘odd’ jobs during a low phase
“Oh God, it was nothing so dramatic. But I just hosted a couple of shows on TV only because there were no movies in my hand.
Whenever I felt broke, I took up a TV show as people were happily offering them to me and then went on holidays, relaxed and looked after the house.”
Not having his potential exploited
“I agree with what other stars feel about me. I too feel that I’m underrated or under-used or under-utilised.
It’s sad and it shouldn’t happen. I’d done comedy in my first film, so then everybody wanted me to do comedy. Had I done serious role in my first film I would have done only serious films and no comedy. So it just takes time to get out that mould and if you’re not a star kid or a outsider it takes longer.”
Why he prefers serious dramatic roles compared to comedy
“Acting comes very naturally and easily. Genre doesn’t bother me. What bothers me is the fact that doing comedy is very tiring and exhausting, but serious acting is not. When I do serious roles, I’m far more chilled out.
With comedy by the end of the day I just want to hit the bed and go to sleep as it’s very tiring. You have to put in your energy and our comedy is quite physical. Therefore I would prefer doing serious roles.”
Whether being an outsider a curse in the film industry
“If you’re getting into any business, you need to study the business thoroughly. My knowledge about the film industry was zero. I had no idea of how it functioned, had no idea how things are done. So my entire dependence was on my manager who was guiding me as to which film to pick. I relied on his judgement than my own, which was a mistake.
This is the reason why star kids tend to do much better, because they know the industry, they know how it functions. They are born with it as they can read between the lines.”
Why it always pays to look at the bigger picture when the chips are down
“Believing in yourself is one of the important things for anybody and in any profession. If you’re in the profession of acting then you must focus on relevant things. Most of the actors do not concentrate on their acting skills but they concentrate on their looks, that’s a myth.
Good looks, a great body is secondary. It’s like a hotel, you can have the best possible ambience, best furniture, but what is really important is good food. If the food is not good then you really don’t care about the great furniture, ambience, chair, table.
There will be hard times. You can’t achieve something really good until you go through a struggle in life. If you’re in an acting profession, you better learn how to act first.”
