Outsiders who have become insiders

The lure of the movies continues not only to attract showbiz personalities but also celebrities, who hitherto, didn’t have anything to do with the silver screen.
Jitesh Pillai zooms in on the outsiders who have become insiders
The movie flu continues to hit people from all walks of life. The latest newbie to have succumbed to the showbiz viral is 19-year-old Sania Mirza, who will star opposite Akshay Kumar in Prem Game, produced by NRI Dennis Dhawan.
From politicians to sportspeople, films have always been a huge draw for celebrities.Here’s a roll call of the newbies bitten by the film bug. CPIM (M) leader Brinda Karat played a stellar role in Shonali Bose’s Amu, Union minister for railways Laloo Prasad Yadav fetched up for a two-minute appearance in Mahesh Manjrekar’s Padmashree Laloo Prasad Yadav, ad man Suhel Seth appeared in Pooja Bhatt’s Rog, doctor-turned-rocker Palash Sen starred prominently in Meghna Gulzar’s Filhaal.
Media person Dolly Thakore, painter Anjana Kuthiala and Page 3 irregulars Kishen Mulchandani, Suhas Awchat, Nisha Jamwal figure in the box-office hit Page 3.
So what brought on this influx of newbies on screen? Brinda Karat, whose sterling turn in Amu was hossanaed by critics, states, “Shonali (Bose) is my niece and it is because of her that I did Amu. She wrote the script and raised money for it. As it was on a shoestring budget, she had to make do with non-filmi actors like me! The script attracted me, as it had strong role models and as well as political overtones.�
The celebrities are often chosen for the sheer novelty of casting rather than acting skills. Sunil Gavaskar’s acting debut in the Marathi film Premachi Saawli, drew a blank. Ditto Sandeep Patil’s turn in Kabhi Ajnabee The, the controversial Ajay Jadeja’s in the recently released flop Khel. Newscaster-turned-novelist Tejeshwar Singh played the arch villain in Jalwa. Ironically, his baritone was muffled and dubbed over in the cop thriller. Sprinter Ashwini Nachapaa made her debut in Ashwini.
Politics and acting indeed make strange bedfellows. Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh was seen in a blink-and-miss role in Satish Kaushik’s weepie Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai, starring Anil Kapoor and Aishwarya Rai. And Subhashini Ali of the CPI (M), who’s also president of the All India Democratic Women’s Association, played Shah Rukh Khan’s mother in Asoka.
Philosopher-writer Bertrand Russel too made a minuscule appearance in the 1960s’ anti-war film Aman, starring Rajendra Kumar. But perhaps the most classic non-actor, who turned in a performance of a lifetime, was the late poet/lyricist Kaifi Azmi in Saeed Mirza’s Naseem.
The current newbies look at acting as nothing more than moonlighting. Ad man Suhel Seth mentions, “When Mahesh Bhatt approached me for Rog, I agreed on two conditions. One, that my professional work wouldn’t suffer, and two, I wouldn’t be required to run around trees or act like Govinda! And he agreed to that.
In any case, movies are not like real life. I don’t go around killing people!� So is acting forever? Karat begs off, “It’s different facing the camera as a political person and different facing it as an actor. I was a little nervous at first. But this is the first and last time I’ll act. I don’t know how my acting comes across. But it was a learning experience, different from what I had been doing for the last 35 years.�
Similarly, Sania Mirza’s on the learning curve too, as she gears up to make a lot of racquet on screen.
(INPUTS: SHOBHA JOHN & DIPAK MISHRA)