Subhash K Jha

"I really don't know whether [Mira Nair's] Monsoon Wedding is a new beginning for me. But I am very hopeful about the future," says one of India's most versatile actors Naseeruddin Shah.

His played Lalit Verma, the harassed Punjabi father of the bride-to-be in Mira Nair's award-winning film [it won a Goldien Lion at Venice]. The actor debuted on screen Shyam Benegal's Nishant (1975).

The 50-year-old actor admits he is thoroughly disillusioned with the quality of roles on offer: "In the Mumbai film industry, we get to see 80-year-old actors with jet black hair. I refuse to dye my hair to play benevolent uncle or die-hard dad. I don't want to do the rubbish I am being offered."

One of the actors from the naturalistic school, Naseeruddin Shah admits he has turned down challenging and rewarding films like J P Dutta's Border, Priyadarshan's Viraasat and Aziz Mirza's Yes Boss. "I have become famous for my blundering career decisions. That's okay. It hasn't wrecked my life or career. The film industry doesn't know where to slot me now. I can't fit into any of the prescribed slots of hero, villain, comedian or character actor."

Naseer now turns director with an experimental half-hour film based on an Urdu story by Ismat Chugtai in mid-2002. "I want to test the waters first. See whether I'm any good or not," says Naseer about his directorial debut, which will be produced by Shekhar Kapur's company Digital Talkies.

In his last outing as actor, Monsoon Wedding provided Naseer with just the opportunity he was waiting for. "I love their warmth and hospitality of the Punjabis," he explains. "Playing one in Monsoon Wedding was a pleasure."

Naseer is now looking forward to working with more expatriate directors. He excitedly names Asif Kapadia [The Warrior], Kaizad Gustad [Bombay Boys], Dev Benegal [English August, Split Wide Open], Mira Nair, Deepa Mehta [Fire, 1947: Earth] and Pan Nalin [Samsara] as a great hope for Hindi cinema. "Their perception of Indian reality is very novel and, in my opinion, far more authentic than their counterparts in Mumbai."

Naseer believes this group of filmmakers is far superior to the offbeat Indian directors he worked with in the 1970s. "I think people like Asif Kapadia or Pan Nalin, whose first film, Samsara, is an exquisite work, are leagues ahead of those so-called serious filmmakers in the 1950s."

At the moment, Naseer has chosen to withdraw himself completely from film assignments. But he hopes to work with Nagesh Kukunoor who has offered him a role in his next film. Naseer and his wife Ratna Pathak-Shah are slated to perform a stage version of Girish Karnad's play, The Sacrifice, for the Leicester Hay Market theatre in London, in June.

While other actors involved with theatre complain about the lack of monetary satisfaction, Naseer has a surprising story to tell. "I have been earning almost all my income from theatre, after the success of my play Khel, directed by Paresh Rawal.

"Theatre is not just creatively but monetarily satisfying, too, for me. As for cinema, I will definitely say yes to the right opportunity. I won't do any film I am not sure about.

"I don't know how much more life I have left. But I want to enjoy whatever there is of it."

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