A former child star making his grown-up debut in Ram Gopal Varma's Mast, Aftab Shivdasani did show some promise in Kasoor and Love Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega, but most of his subsequent films with apparent favourite director Vikram Bhatt bombed.
Yet here the actor is, making two more Vikram Bhatt films. One of them, Red, releases this Friday. Priyanka Jain met Aftab in an attempt to find what makes him to loyal to the director, and what Red is all about. Excerpts:
Your red and black posters are all over town. What's your character like?
My character Neel Oberoi is somebody suffering from a heart ailment. He has very little time to live and just when his hopes and aspirations are crashed, he gets a heart transplant from a donor, the deceased husband of Celina Jaitley. When he gets better, he perceives life very differently from what he has in the past.
He is somebody very intense, passionate and with something mysterious about him. He is strong internally, and gives it all when he is in love.
When he meets Celina Jaitley, he falls in love with her. The film is about how the love story unfolds, the thrills that take place between the two of them, and how it leads to the introduction of Amrita Arora's character in the film.
It's a hard core thriller. It's not a murder mystery, that's just an undertone to the film.
How did you agree to cut your long hair?
Initially, I had apprehension about cutting my hair really short. It was difficult. But when I agreed to do it, I did it with full conviction and I don't regret it. It looks good and it works in my favor.
I trained for about 40-45 days on my body, twice a day, which made all the difference -- as you can see in the promos.
And you get the fruits too, romancing two women in the film.
Both Amrita and Celina have different characters and have performed out of their skin. Both complement each other really well, because it's not just a love story between a man and a woman. The third character is very important to take the story ahead. That's where Amrita's character stands.
I know Amrita for a long time and she is a good friend. I have worked with her in the past.
Celina and I had to break the ice as we met on the set for the first time. It was eventful. We made sure to work in unison, getting things right in terms of chemistry. The equation between our characters is chemistry oriented.
What does Red signify?
Red, in terms of this movie, signifies passion and danger. To me, it signifies confidence.
Images: Amrita hots it up in Red
This is your eighth film with director Vikram Bhatt. How has the relationship developed?
Kasoor was my first film with Vikram. He is somebody who has really brought me up. He has taught me a lot in terms of performances, body language, voice modulation, internalising a performance. He is somebody who has taken a lot of trouble in casting me over and over again.
As a person I think he has grown. His shot division, shot taking, every block is very interesting. Red is a visually stunning film, with a great execution of the idea.
How has your career progressed over the years?
Kasoor was the first turning point of my career. Because it was the first film that brought me some success, people appreciated me as an actor and accepted me.
It was the second film of my career. Hungama, Awara Paagal Deewana and Masti
followed. These films re-instated the fact that I could also do comedy. Then I did Shukriya which bombed at the box office but it opened my eyes as an actor. It gave me the opportunity to do something, to internalise performances. I was extremely happy; It gave me a new understanding.
In Ankahee I had to play a 55-year-old man in a really intense role. That film taught me a lot as it put me through an emotional journey of a man who is trying to tell a story, of a man who has cheated on his wife, who has been weak in life and has gone through vulnerable moments. He is suffering and paying the price for it and just does not want to die with that guilt of not being able to do justice to his daughter. Doing that film brought about an emotional change in me, taught me a lot, made me stronger, externally and internally.
Red is a film in which I see myself very differently after being in the industry for 7-8 years. I could say it is a rebirth. These have been the different phases of my career.
When a film does not do well at the box office what do you go through? How do you feel? What learning do you take home?
Well honestly how much can you do? The market and trends keep changing. It's not possible to assess the exact mistakes you made. But you can assess the basic fundamental mistakes. Going into details would be like crying over spilt milk, so I let it be and try another round, get up again and fight another round. That's it.
What after Red?
Vikram's drama based film Life Mein Kabhi Kabhi, then his action thriller Speed, where I play a negative character. I am also doing E Niwas's comedy flick De Tali.
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