Yes, SRK, sex and comedy sells: Arshad Warsi

By Devansh Patel

You've worked with newly set up production houses before. What are the criteria on which you decide to work for them?
It all depends on who owns or runs the production house. There are so many people who are new comers and want to make films.

99% of them do not want to make films because they love cinema but because they want to know the industry and get to know these gorgeous actresses. People like ABCL, AKFC are in the cinema, know cinema and like cinema. That is the reason I've too set up my own production house called 'Shooting Stars'.

I really like the look of yours on the posters of Short Kut.
Oh, don't say that. I look pathetic in Short Kut. Actually, my look on the posters is from Vishal Bhardwaj's film Ishqiya. I was shooting for Ishqiya and had come for the photo shoot. So the banners are looking good. I do these stupid things and then regret by saying, 'Why did I do this?'

I play a role of a guy who has no scope of becoming an actor and yet becomes one. He is a bad actor with a bad look and is not meant to be anywhere near the film industry. So I wanted this guy to be as grungy as possible. Badly dressed, etc.

Have you decided yourself not to break away from the comic image everyone has tagged you into?
No I don't. The fact is that eight out of ten films that are being made are comedy. You can't be so obscure and wait for those two films that are serious to come your way. I don't even remember the last time I saw a sensible cinema being made, like New York.

So the famous Neha Dhupia quote should change?
Yes, SRK, sex and comedy sells. Absolutely correct.

When do we see you in a sensible one then?
I'm actually fed up doing comic roles. It's like eating the same food everyday. Comedy is getting on my nerves now. But I keep myself growing by doing different kind of comedy. I've never repeated my Munnabhai character ever. Once the film is over, my role is over and my character is gone.

Short Kut is a new role for me. I've never played a crazy, funny and a villainous guy before in any film. Vishal Bhardwaj's Ishqiya will also have a different sense of humour. Dhamaal and Golmaal were like chalk and cheese too. I'm waiting for some sensible film to come my way now.

How would you describe your humour?
I don't have any humour. I'm an actor who performs the role. You write a role for me and I will play it much better than how it is written. That much I can guarantee you. I cannot define anything and in today's time we actors are slaves to the pen.

Have you been conned before?
Yes. Hulchul was the film, and my co-actor was Akshaye Khanna. That film should've been called - the con is on. I completely thought something else will come my way but when I reached the sets it was a different ball game all together. But because I had committed I decided to do the film.

Akshaye Khanna is termed as a man who sticks to himself. He is more of a recluse. Is that true?
Yes. He is a guy who keeps to himself. I don't know him very well as a person because personally, I haven't hung out with him. We haven't spent a lot of time together. But whenever I've seen him, he is in his own world.

Having said that, he is a damn good actor. His last film Gandhi My Father deserved an award. I remember seeing his first film Himalaya Putra and I said, "This guy can act." He has done a very good job in Short Kut too.

When will your career reach its peak Arshad?
I don't know man, and I don't know if it ever will. See, there are lot more other things that require to become a super star or a star who is worshipped. You got to have a very sharp mind, got to be a good business man, you got to keep your entire personal life somewhere else and go crazy behind your profession.

You need to be very hungry and greedy. I am not. I can't do all these things. I have a simple and a straight life. I like to balance my personal and professional life. Plus, I'm very lazy too.

Arshad Warsi is not aggressive. I like to chill out with my family, hang out with my kids; I'm fine if I am not working. I will buy a car if I can afford but can do without it too. I am a satisfied person.

When was the last time you've applied a shot cut to climb up the ladder of success?
I've never done it. Short cuts can only be obtained by people who've got the facility to short cuts. Say for example, a star kid will always have a short cut ready to enter films. A regular guy can never get a short cut. Mine was a freaky case. I was doing something else and was picked up and put into acting.

You're quite lucky for the new directors.
You're right. Let's put it this way. I cannot think of any well known established directors I've worked with. Whichever films I've worked on, new directors took over. Whether it was Raj Kumar Hirani, Rohit Shetty, Siddharth Anand, Kabir Khan, etc.

Of course, now they are all established and have set their place in Bollywood. Neeraj Vora for that matter is one of the very few known directors I'm working with in my career. What I like about the new lot is that they bring in a new energy and a new thinking wave, new technology and new creativity.

Then the already established ones stick to their age old formula and template which they follow. It is only Ram Gopal Varma who has got the b**** to take chances in film making.

How's your rapport with Anil Kapoor?
He is a fighter. Anil Kapoor is the only man in the film industry who will come across as a new comer, from his first film to his last. He always wants to prove that he is the best, and he has always proved himself right. Anil is the best in the business.

Has your wife seen the film?
Yes. Maria has seen it and she liked it. She liked the music of Short Kut and whenever I came on screen. Other than that, I think the romantic bit in the film got dragged a little bit.