I have made a lot of friends in Lucknow through my TT group: Saurabh Shukla

Actor Saurabh Shukla is not new to Lucknow. Having been a regular visitor to the city since he was a kid, the National Award winning actor says he knows the galiyan of Lucknow like the back of his hand. In town a few weeks ago to shoot for a film, we caught up with Kallu Mama of 'Satya' after he had finished a game of Table Tennis at the KD Singh Babu Stadium in Lucknow.
You seem very at home in Lucknow.
Yes, that's because I keep coming here so often. Also, I have a very old and long relationship with Lucknow. I've spent a lot of time here because my father was from here. My parents were in Bhatkhande, they were both musicians. My father later shifted to Delhi University but he used to come to Lucknow very often. As a matter of fact, I have grown up in Delhi. But Baba always used to praise the food of Lucknow and always say ki agar Lucknow ka khana nahi khaya toh kuchh nahi khaya. And till then we were used to Delhi ki chaat and khana so we always used to say ki kya aap Lucknow ke khane ke tareef karte rehta hain hamesha. But later, when I had the food here, I realized how right he was.
Then main Lucknow mein bahut ghooma hoon. Bachpan mein mujhe Lucknow ke culture ke baare mein zyada samajh mein nahi aaya kyunki hamare ghar mein bhi waisa hi culture tha. But now over a period of time, when I have travelled all over the world, now I see how special Lucknow culture is. The language, the atmosphere, the people, they are all unique. And I've been lucky that I have shot four films back to back here in this city. Although, I don’t believe much in fate, but all the movies I have shot for here have crossed 100 crores. I've started thinking that Lucknow is a very lucky place for me. And I’m glad that I’ve done some wonderful things here.
TaIking of Lucknow, we keep hearing of you visiting various eateries around town.
Yes, I am a self-confessed foodie. Jahan khana, wahan Saurabh Shukla. But ignoring Lucknow food would be a blasphemy. I remember Net Ram ki kachori and Kabar waale ki dukaan and Prakash ki kulfi from my childhood. These were my favourite places to eat.
Whenever I come here now, Ram Asrey ki malai ki gilori is a must for me. I always go to their shop in Chowk. It's the best and the oldest and it comes with a history and that makes it even more special. Phir jo roadside ke khane ki jo khasiyat hai Lucknow ki. Yahan ki chaat, yahan ke batashe, uska koi match nahi hai.
And you are a regular at KD Singh Babu Stadium too.
I play table tennis here so I travel a lot around the city. Toh mujhe aksar log Lucknow wala hi samjahte hain. Because my dialect and diction is quite Lakhnawi. Yahi language hum ghar pe bhi bolte thay. I played here when I was shooting here for 'Jolly LLB', 'Daas Dev', 'Raid' and now this film. So I am a regular at KD Singh Babu Stadium. I have made a lot of friends in Lucknow through my TT group.
Saurabh Shukla at KD Singh Babu Stadium, Hazratganj (BCCL/ Aditya Yadav)
With both your parents being musicians, did you not think of taking up music?
It was in fact very easy for me to be an artist because both my parents were artists. Art was encouraged in our house so no one opposed my becoming an actor. I remember we as a whole family every Sunday would go to watch a movie. Koi bhi ho, Sunday used to be movie day for us. The morning show was for English film and a Hindi one in the evening. A lot of my friends were not allowed to watch films, whereas in my family it was a given thing. There was so much music in my family that woh kehte hain na ki koi bhi cheez aapke kareeb ho toh it loses its value. So although I used to sing well but somehow I never took to music. So writing was what caught my fancy. Then I always wanted to be in movies because I loved the medium. And in Delhi, I got exposed to the theatre so that’s how I became an actor and a writer.
Your acting career seems to have taken off in the recent years. What was it like in the interim, after Satya.
After 'Satya', there was a lull in my career. I would have been recognized much earlier and I would have done more films if I would have taken whatever was offered to me after that film. But I didn’t do that and it immediately made my path tough. So from 2000 when 'Satya' released, till 2010, it was a tough ten-year long journey. In fact, the ten-year period after 'Satya' was a very dark phase of my life. When I came to Mumbai in 1990, I was offered two films. And both films required a fat man and I thought to myself this isn’t what I want to do, so I didn’t do those films. Then it took me three years to come back to Mumbai after that and then I came back with 'Bandit Queen'. But it didn't put me in a bracket of a fat man and a comedian. That film made me meet people who didn’t believe in typecasting me. I met Sudhir Mishra who cast me in 'Iss Raat Ki Subah Nahi' as a killer. And that put things in perspective; for me and for people that I don't want to be a fat comedian.
Then I did Satya, where another part of me that few knew of then, except for Sudhir (Mishra), came to light and that was my writing. I co-wrote 'Satya' with Anurag. But I didn’t want to take to writing. I was confused at that point of time. But as a result, I took less films because I didn’t believe in them. And people perhaps started thinking I don’t want to act or I am cocky or whatever.
That period lasted for a decade until 'Barfi'! But in these ten years I too started questioning myself that maybe I’m not as talented as I think myself to be. Maybe I am being too ambitious in my expectations… all these doubts haunted me at times. People said I’m a good actor but they stopped calling me for any good role of any consequence. They would call me for a two-scene role or a cameo which would be unacceptable to me. But Barfi! revived me as an actor. And I was lucky that the same time 'Jolly LLB' happened. So within a year, both films released and I was rediscovered! And then came the National Award. So I was back in the race.
Saurabh Shukla in Lucknow (BCCL/ Aditya Yadav)
But you do end up playing the humorous fat man in most films. Whether in 'Jolly LLB' or 'Lage Raho Munna Bhai' or 'Barfi!'
See comedy comes naturally to me. Not just physically do I look comical, but it’s also in my nature. But I haven't done the purely gag-based comical roles. I have played strong human beings with a humorous touch. So like even in 'Raid', Rameshwar Singh ‘Tauji’ was a dark intense character but with a humorous side to him. He's dark, dangerous and formidable. But he likes jalebi despite being a sugar patient. So that’s humour. That's not comedy. Similarly for all the other films, I try to bring the everyday humour in my acting. It’s not ki addmi kele ke chhilke pe phisal gaya type of comedy. For instance in Jolly, judge Tripathy is making corrections in his daughter's wedding card while in court, that’s natural humour. So yes, I do humorous roles, but the larger character remains intense.
You were planning to make a film in Lucknow. What’s happening with that project?
As of now I am concentrating on acting. Filmmaking is a time consuming project. I have been signed by a film director. I met a huge star, then I did a recce here so all these news travelled. Right now not much is happening on my directorial venture. It’s a story as grounded as me. The film is funny, humorous, not simply a comic film, a life story. Something that I like and I am. But it's on the back-burner.