In conversation with Mr.experimentist- Adil Hussain

If you have seen the father from Life of Pi and the dominating husband from English Vinglish, then you might not take much time to guess who we are talking about. Adil Hussain, the main figure in these famous flicks is back in Bollywood with his new movie- Zed Plus. On a pleasant evening, OWN had an opportunity to speak to the national and international star and to know how he has worked on his role and what exactly this movie is about:

Adil Hussain during his movie promotions at New Delhi

Tell us something about your character?

It’s a character from the lowest strata of the society who earns may be hundred rupee a day; in small towns the earnings are even lower. So this character, Aslam Khan, who is a puncture wala, belongs to a small village of Rajasthan and the story is about his participation in the society, in family and Politics. The story depicts the strength of a common man in India, not only in the times of election but in general too.He is a person who has his own integrity,value system. It focuses on how much would he slip from that vision of him and how his life changes right after getting a zed security due to some misunderstanding between him and the prime minister.

Since you are playing the role of a puncture wala, how did you prepare for this role?

It was easy for me to relate to the character because even I grew up in one of the smallest and most backward town of the country. I had a cycle and from the age of seven I had been visiting to the puncture shop to mend my punctures. As a child, the hard drive of your mind is empty so whatever you imbibe or receive is clear and vivid so I remember even the minute detail of the puncture shop. As I talk about it, I can see it in front of my eyes, feel the fragrance, the man etc.

I had the curiosity to know how do they do it and as a child it is quite normal to have such a curiosity, so I did learn the art of mending the puncture but never practiced it. When I visited the sets of Zed Plus the first day, the director had already invited a puncture wala to teach me the precisions involved in the art so that when I play the role, I don’t appear as an unskilled person or I shouldn’t look like I am acting because I don’t want people to catch me as now we just don’t have people who want to get entertained but we have smart viewers.

Adil Hussain: Poise with Talent

Coming from a theater background, how important do you think it is to do theater to be able act?

Well, that is difficult to answer because every actor has a different dream. My dream is to be different in every role, like if you see in this movie no one can actually recognize that the main character is me. And for me, that is the biggest achievement because I don’t want to be recognized by face, I want to work on everything from looks to personality when I am taking up a role.

And it is entirely because of theater that I am able to present myself differently as it has helped me a lot to make a transition within myself as and when required.

What are your future plans?

I have just been contacted by a New York based director who is doing a story on Jumpa Lahiri and also doing a Tamil commercial story, working in a movie called Lost and Found. And also reading a lot of scripts, seven to eight scripts are still pending. I want to work in movies which are complex, depth, main stream but interesting like English vinglish, Agent Vinod etc.

As you have experienced, would you recommend anyone to have Zed Security?

Zed Security makes life hell and I would never want any of my enemy to have any such security in their life.

Any message for our readers?

It is a movie for common people and a film that depicts the power of a common citizen, that spreads messages in a hilarious way to not lose out on their integrity and we just hope people would like the movie.

Picture Credits: APH IMAGES