From action to acting

Sunil Shetty, who made an entry as the strong man, has been accepted as an expressive performer. He talks about this transformation to GIRIJA RAJENDRAN.

It is no more all action and no emotion... bidding farewell to the stereotype, Sunil Shetty in ``Border''.``Pyaar Ishq Aur Mohabbat''... a negative role essayed with ilan.FOR ONE who started out as an out-and-out action hero via Deepak Anand's `Balwan' a full decade ago (with just a well-built physique on display), Sunil Shetty has made remarkable strides as an expressive performer. For this switch by which the punches- pulling Shetty puts mind before muscle, Sunil is the first to give credit where it is due &151; to those thinking cine persons who dared cast him in roles of a different mould at a time when his reputation rested almost entirely on his drawing power as an action hero. What strikes one about Sunil Shetty in 2001, is his total sense of honesty and sincerity while assessing himself as a performer.

Admits Sunil: "Initially, so busy was I doing action-oriented films that I had no time to think about anything else in my roller-coaster career. Thus I must have done some 40-50 films in this genre &151; with no break in between &151; moving from role to role purely mechanically. It was only when this genre of film that belonged to the fight composer began to falter at the box- office that I sat down to introspect about where I was heading. I had to get the action movies in hand out of the way for starters &151; before venturing on a change of pace. In this `midway' process, I did some furious rethinking about where precisely I wanted to go, given the career impasse confronting me. Fortunately, the other kind of roles, too, somehow started coming my way from makers reasoning along similar `type-breaking' lines. So I grabbed this fortuitous opportunity with both hands and here I am, pleasantly surprised, being accepted as a safe bet in both action and serious movies!

Sunil Shetty was on the outdoor sets of Raj Kumar Kohli's still untitled film, shooting in the Mukesh Mills area of Colaba. Though he was due to fly to the U.S. for Sanjay Gupta's `Kaante' that very night and was racing to complete his schedule, Sunil was quite relaxed while talking about his recent career moves. ``It's easy enough for an actor himself, moving away from his tier, to try variety,'' observed Sunil. ``The big hurdle to surmount, here, is the business of finding mainstream audience acceptance! I was indeed lucky that my audience accepted me whole-heartedly when I tried something radical for my screen personality, in J. P. Dutta's `Border'. Here was an action movie with a difference, a war film in which I was playing an army officer. The practised directorial hand of J. P. Dutta taught me a lot by way of character delineation in nuancing that army officer &151; the uprightness of the man, his honesty of purpose and his innate goodness, alongside a fierce sense of duty. Actually I felt I was verily an army officer while doing `Border', and I must have communicated the feeling to the audience too. Quite a few army officers came and told me that they saw themselves in me on the `Border' screen."

"How, in comparison, was the experience of working with a cineaste like Gulzar in `Hu Tu Tu'? ``Gulzar's been known to make even a Jeetendra perform so tellingly that the star's insights change forever after interacting with this mood movie-maker?"

Sunil instantly went into raptures over his Gulzar connection, as he underlined: ``I really can't express my feelings about `Hu Tu Tu' and Gulzar. He is so explicit while explaining a shot and so subtly unobtrusive while being behind the camera that he boosts an actor's confidence to a point where the performer in you ventures to experiment and explore. Gulzar taught me a lot about the art of underplaying while emoting. `Hu Tu Tu' definitely represents a high point in my career. But the show which really proved that I was on the right track in plumping for variety was Suneel Darshan's `Dharkan', a film in which I was accepted in a negative characterisation. Why, I here won Filmfare's `Best Actor in a Villainous Role' award! If that's not vindication of the healthy new turn my career took, what is?"

"People are also amazed at your newly discovered yen for comedy in Priyadarshan's `Hera Pheri'. Never did think it was in you to play a light-comedy role of this ilk!"

"That's because most people in the media don't know the real me!'' shot back Sunil. ``Those close to me know me differently. Yet doing comedy effectively on the screen is no joke. Here, in `Hera Pheri', both director Priyadarshan and my super co-star, Paresh Rawal, helped me no end in putting it across. Imagine, Akshay Kumar and I were saddled with an `action' image and yet we brought off a comedy in `Hera Pheri'. That's the magic of Priyadarshan's touch! I've always enjoyed working with Priyan because I know that I'll be having something unusually exciting to do by way of delivering. So I am looking forward to my latest Priyadarshan-crafted movie: `Yeh Tera Ghar Yeh Mera Ghar'! In this, Priyan has me playing a U.P.-based character called Daya Shankar who embodies, in his persona, all the quirks of `Mr. Deeds Comes To Town'. It's a truly hilarious show, I'm rather hopeful about `Yeh Tera Ghar Yeh Mera Ghar' turning out as well as `Hera Pheri'. Priyan has this knack of making the ordinary look extraordinary on film."

Sunil Shetty, all told, is quite thrilled with this, his `second coming' pulling him out of the rippling-muscles syndrome. Says Sunil with a sense of satisfaction: ``This second knock of mine is far more mature and sound. In it, I've been able to vibe meaningfully with J. P. Dutta, Gulzar, Priyadarshan, Ram Gopal Varma &151; I was there in his `Jungle' &151; Rajiv Rai and Mahesh Manjrekar, all six makers with something striking to say, thinking men under whom one can't but get better as a performer. I'm also rather looking forward to Sanjay Gupta's `Kaante', if only because it will give me an opportunity to play opposite my idol, Amitabh Bachchan, whom I grew up hero-worshipping."

"You have done two films with Rajiv Rai to date &151; `Mohra' and now `Pyaar Ishq Aur Mohabbat'. While in `Mohra' you were seen in your usual action-oriented avatar, in `Pyaar Ishq Aur Mohabbat' you essayed a negative character. Were you disappointed that the latter film wasn't as well received as were Rajiv Rai's crime thrillers before it?"

"I don't know about viewers' reaction to `Pyaar Ishq Aur Mohabbat', but my role in it was certainly well received In fact, I earned fair critical notice, too, for this portrayal. It's a bit sad that the film didn't work out as well as Rajiv Rai's previous hits. But Rajiv and I are already getting together for his next movie, something that is his forte &151; the crime thriller!"

"How would you sum up your career graph from `Balwan' to now?"

Sunil Shetty laughs happily as he replies: ``I was just like a new-born in `Balwan', innocent about everything connected with cinema. But I have, since, learnt to crawl, sit up, stand, walk, even run. That is to say, I've grown up a bit with each one of my films, picked up something of lasting value to my oeuvre. Yet I will never disown `Balwan' and the 50-plus action films that followed, for they are the ones that gave me both work and recognition. Thus am I being given this chance to test out my acting calibre, working with cine personalities who could reshape an artiste's life so perceptively."

``How would you differentiate between an action hero and an emotional hero?"

"When an actor is hooked on action, it's more of his very own contribution to the role &151; more brawn than brain. But when it comes to excelling in emotional roles, a director's contribution is so much more, for you can't woo the audience with just fast- paced action here. You have to carry the audience with you in the same emotional flow to keep their attention riveted. Emotion takes much more out of an actor. Under Priyan's, for instance, I acted, not play-acted. Gulzar taught me how much the perfect script means to a performance. J. P. Dutta showed me how to get under the skin of the character and imbibe the essence of the role. Rajiv Rai displayed rare faith in my new repertoire to cast me in the kind of image not many could even conceive for me. While Dharmesh Darshan was bold to present me as a negative character when this industry just didn't believe that I'd be accepted in such a role as the one in `Dharkan'. Ram Gopal Varma is such a fantastic technician that he could work wonders with your characterisation even after the actual shooting for a film is over. I have lived on the sets and learnt in the company of such resourceful people. In fact, I'm still learning as I discern how far I still have to go,'' concludes Sunil Shetty &151; for whom the director shouting ``Action!''on the sets now means something else.

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