‘I am no activist but i am upset’

Post 26/11, you posted blog entries criticising the Congress and the BJP – not many actors have attacked both major political formations by name. You have been talking about the need for a new youth-led political leadership, giving sharp television statements. Activism or anger?Activism toh nahin hai, I am not an activist. But as a citizen, at a time like this, I think everyone is upset, everyone is wanting to voice their opinion, so am I. How long can attacks just keep on happening? I have not seen any concrete steps being taken for many years – nor has anyone else, for that matter.

You feel we don’t have leaders?
We don’t have an Obama right now. Do we have an Obama we can look up to and say, this guy can lead us to better lives? I don’t see one right now.
Do you see a Rang De Basanti-type anti-establishment undercurrent?
Today, people are really angry, they are seeking accountability. That’s welcome, even if it’s taken something so drastic to wake us up. Perhaps it was the brazenness of it.
What’s happened after we woke up is adequate?
People have been made to resign. The government is paying more attention to security, a lot of pressure is being put on Pakistan to deal with the elements there. So things have happened, and what’s more important is that a political consciousness has developed in the country, which, for example, a city like Bombay didn’t have in the past.I also think that this would have an impact on the youth, and young people would take the decision to enter mainstream social activism, or mainstream politics.
What about young people demanding cross-border action today?
The people of Pakistan have probably suffered as much as we have because of terrorism. However, the fact is that there are elements there that are nurturing and creating terrorists. If they are on the soil of Pakistan, the government there has to deal with it – or they have to allow other people from other countries to deal with it.
Cine activism hasn’t impacted real politics. The way actors in the south have entered mainstream politics – why don’t you also step in to make a difference?
But, if you see, historically, the parties floated by actors down south have ultimately been no different from any other political party elsewhere in the country. It’s just been about someone who is popular as a star, using his or her popularity to be elected by the people – but ultimately, that hasn’t amounted to much where the manner of governance is concerned.
How’s the TZP Oscars campaign going?
It’s going good. Incidentally, I recently got a call from the chairman of the Foreign Language Committee, Mark Johnson – which is very unusual – saying that he saw the film and liked it very much, that the jury members also liked it. It doesn’t mean that the film will get nominated, but he must have liked it for him to take the effort to call, so I’m happy that whether or not it gets a nomination, it is being appreciated by a wider audience.
When you were 18, 20, did you ever think you’d work so hard on fitness and build a physique that would be sold as a cinematic USP in your 40s?
I have always been fond of sports, but training, hitting the gym is not something I have been fond of, and when I’ve done it, it hasn’t lasted more than a couple of months. But the director wanted a particular kind of look for the character, so I jumped into it. I’d no idea how far I’d go, I started from zero and went at it hammer and tongs. When I started, I hated it. But after a point, I began enjoying it… Ironically, just as I reached peak form and completed shooting, about seven months ago, I had to start undoing what I did, because for Raju Hirani’s film I have to have a very non-muscular look. So for the last seven months, I haven’t been training. That has been more traumatic than building it. I worked so hard to reach there and then I said to myself, oh God, I have to undo it all! But that’s my job as an actor…
Sachin Tendulkar actually came to see the body, to check whether the look in the posters is real?
No, no, he came to see the film. He wanted to see the film. It was a media thing that he wanted to see the body, that he asked if it is real, aisa kuch nahi hua tha.
How long have you known him?
It goes as far back as the shooting of Andaz Apna Apna. It was the mahurat shot, and Sachin was invited to give the clap. Before that, I’d seen him once at Brabourne stadium, when he was doing net practice with the team, but he hadn’t been selected. I was talking to Kapil Dev and Dilip Vengsarkar and I asked them, who’s that kid, he’s playing really well yaar. They said he’s a young guy, Tendulkar, we’re trying him out. I said, just as a layman, yeh toh kamaal ka khel raha hai, he’s middling the ball perfectly, he should be in the team! I didn’t know then that he would actually be selected very soon after. Over time, we’ve met more often and kept in touch.
You like his batting, he likes your movies?
Actually we don’t talk much about our careers when we meet. But once, I got what I count as the biggest compliment from him. We were at a party where the Australian team was there – McGrath, Shane Warne, Brett Lee and so on. He was introducing me to them, and he said to them, you know how I am on the pitch, that’s him, on screen! I was very happy to hear that (and that has an ear to ear grin accompanying it).You’ve spoken of his predicting bowlers’ strategies during the last IPL, when you watched matches with him.Yes, he’s amazing. But even I made a good prediction recently! In the previous Test match, when things were balanced evenly early on the last day, I had this feeling that he would score a century, and we would win. So I texted (Sachin’s wife) Anjali, saying, aaj Sachin ki century hone wali hai, hum jeetne waale hain. Ya, I should have texted him, but I have a superstition about this. Whenever I would text Sachin before a match, saying all the best or something like that, he would get out very quickly. Yeh teen-char baar ho gaya, and I said, yaar, main isko good luck wish karta hoon aur yeh out ho jaata hai. Now I’m not generally superstitious in life, but when it comes to cricket, I get superstitious. So I stopped texting him around matches, and told him why. So this time, when I got that feeling, I was about to text him – and then I stopped, I said yeh phir out ho jayega, and texted Anjali instead. After the match, after seeing it, Sachin texted me back. That’s when I told him, see, I’m not so bad in my predictions either!