Is it true that you’ve just completed shooting for a Hollywood film? Yes. I’ve just finished filming Florida Road in Durban. A year ago, I got this offer from a common friend who lives in Cape Town. Before I read the script, I had to sign a non-disclosure agreement to protect the project from plagiarism. Once I okayed the script, I was on board. Whenever there was a revision in the script, that would be added only on colour coded pages. Even if a line was omitted in the script, the script would have an indication of that.
Why was a Hollywood director interested in making a film about an Indian family based in Durban? Director Brad Glass had spent some years in the Far East. That’s got him interested in our culture. He has a home in Durban, which has a very high Indian population. He came up with this idea long before he met with Fred Fontana, who was the associate producer for Kurt Russell’s Soldier and production supervisor for Sylvestor Stallone and Sharon Stone starrer The Specialist. Fred and Brad had known each other but had lost touch. Funnily enough, they bumped into each other at gym and reconnected. That’s how Florida Road happened.
Is Florida Road another ABCD film? No. It isn’t. This 25-crore film is about how two generations in an Indian family clash over values. My character is a struggling writer who dreams of writing a Hollywood screenplay. My father is played by Vipin Sharma who played Darsheel Safary’s father in Taare Zameen Par. Priyanshu Chatterjee plays my elder brother in the film. Reputed South African stand-up comedian Cokey Falkow plays my friend.
Did you have to undergo any change in terms of looks for the character? Brad told me that though I suit the character, I am too damn good-looking. I accepted that as a backhanded
compliment even while Brad decided to ugly me up! I had to lose 5 kg and couldn’t show my biceps. My hair has been messed up. In fact, Brad and Fred had apprehensions of whether I’d be agreeable to looking this way for my first outing in a foreign film!
What’s happening to your other big Hollywood project, American Empire? I’ve been approached but I can’t talk about it yet.
You have a release after two years. Would you say it’s a comeback? I’ve been sitting on the bench and not been part of the playing XI for two years. I did some films that never released while the release of Toss got delayed because of the multiplex strike. If Sachin Tendulkar retires and then returns to play, one can call that a comeback. I’ve just been watching, learning, growing and working on my acting and temperament. One can call this my second innings in a Test match where there are plenty of innings to come since I’m playing a five-match series.
What are the things that you’ll avoid in your second innings? My friends say I’m an emotional fool, naïve and gullible. In my eight-film career, I must have done two to three films for my friends. Though it’s true that one can’t change one’s core, I’ll have to stop doing films for emotional
reasons.
Has you sister’s potential been tapped adequately? No. She has a long innings ahead. She has just completed two films — Run Bhola Run and Chatur Singh Two-Star.
Do you plan to get into production? Yes. Direction is not my cup of tea. But I’m finalising scripts with a writer and hope to lock the projects by the end of this year.
Now that you have patched up with Ameesha, are you planning to produce a film which has you and her? If she fits the character, why would I look outside the family? One of the scripts has a brother-sister story. If I like the script, I’d like to produce this film with her and me in the lead.
