Shekhar Suman is receiving a lot of love for his performance in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Heeramandi. However, the actor has one grouse — headlines are being made out of his personal life when what he really wants to talk about is his work, his craft. Recently him opening up about his elder son’s passing was widely circulated online, and previously his comments on his son Adhyayan’s ugly break-up with Kangana Raanut hit the headlines. Shekhar says, it is “disturbing”.
When asked how he deals with news about his personal life flashing all over the media, Shekhar, in an interview with indianexpress.com, said that he’s succumbed to vulnerable moments and then felt that he shouldn’t have spoken about it. He said, “More often than not what happens is that every actor has two sides to them — a personal and a professional life. No matter how hard he tries to guard it, there are moments where you are vulnerable, with just a little prodding you just give it away and it’s all over the place and you wish you had not talked about it. I don’t really know how to judge that, whether it is right or wrong but sometimes it is disturbing. Other times I say fair enough, they wanted to know about a piece in my life and gave it to them but this time and no further.”
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Shekhar makes a comeback with Heeramandi. While he’s been busy with theatres, this is the first time in over seven years. He was last seen in Sanjay Dutt’s Bhoomi (2017). However, the actor dislikes the word “comeback”, he says, “I am quintessentially a theatre actor. It is never a comeback. You are just waiting for the right role to happen. There might be a hiatus, you give it a gap, because the role has to excite me. I don’t work just for the sake of being seen that I am a part of 10 OTT series, five films. I have taken a leaf from Dilip Kumar sahab. He used to probably do one film in two-three years. Aamir Khan… they all sort of preserve themselves in a manner that people have this thirst to watch them. There is no point getting steeped into mediocrity, that is very painful for an actor. In the midst of a show or a movie you realise that you’ve made a mistake. That’s the worst feeling.”
In a fast-paced world like today, where actors are hungry for more work, does he not feel the pressure to be seen so that he gets good work? Shekhar responds, “There is never a pressure. Yes, a want, a desire to be there, to be seen around, seen in extremely good roles, roles that would surprise the audience. Not just surprise them, shock them. That’s where the fun lies. I would want to do something that would challenge me, something that I’ll lose my night sleep over. Something that makes me want to sleep with the script every night before I go to the set and keep thinking and evolving, figuring how to do it the best possible way.”
When asked if he’s found himself in that situation ever, he says, “Yes, so many times. Because so many times the narrative is diametrically opposite to what’s happening on the sets for various reasons, it doesn’t work out that way. However, with Sanjay Leela Bhansali you are assured of all the comforts and luxuries.”
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Shekhar also describes how SLB works, how he created his magnum opus Heeramando and what his real expectations from his actors are. He says, “SLB is not a taskmaster. I would not like to use that word for him. Somehow, somewhere, it sort of conjures a vision where somebody is standing with a whip and saying ‘do it my way’. However, in a very positive way he is a perfectionist, looking for perfection.”
Suman shares that while SLB desires perfection from every one on the set, he also gives his actors the freedom to improvise. “It depends actor to actor, if you are prepared and you are ready, then he is the easiest to work with. However, if you are terrified and you are not confident of your own self then there might be a problem and that’s where he probably gets a little impatient because he expects you to come completely prepared and at the same time be completely open to change and improvisations. It is great fun to work with him. I think, for an actor, it is the ultimate excitement to work with him because you can do your scene in so many ways, you are not straight jacketed, you are not compartmentalised, and he gives you that latitude to open up and perform,” he concludes.
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