Bhat naturally

“Main kuch aur kamaal karna chahata hoon… I want to outdo myself.”

The audiences might be going gaga over talented actor Rahul Bhat’s DSP Tomar act in ‘Black Warrant’ and the critics might have given him a thumbs-up for both his performance in the Vikramaditya Motwane series as well as Anurag Kashyap’s ‘Kennedy’, but the actor, who has come a long way from walking the ramp as a fashion model to gracing the red carpet at prestigious film festivals, wants to outshine himself.

The sabbatical he took after his stupendous success on television, with serials like ‘Heena’ skyrocketing him to dizzying heights of fame, allowed him to reflect upon where the actor in him was going. Even today, he is in a mood to contemplate and introspect. Indeed, it’s the most exciting time in his life. He adds, “Why me, it’s a good time for all actors. Apart from several platforms to showcase talent, people are recognising the worth of actors.”

He, of course, has been fortunate enough to work with some of the finest directors. The credit goes to Anurag Kashyap for resurrecting his second innings with a major role in ‘Ugly’. About the director, who is ‘friend, philosopher and guide’, he observes, “With Anurag, I have a karmic relationship. He throws curve balls at me and I try to tackle them as best as I can. While working with him, I am like a blank page, ready to be filled in by whatever he wants to write.”

Even otherwise, Bhat is a director’s actor. He decodes his acting mantra thus: “The only person I want to impress is my director. If I can come anywhere close to what he has imagined, or if I can flip the character and make him stand in wonder and amazement, my job is done.” Not that acting is as easy a process as Bhat makes it appear.

Letting us into his acting process, he reveals, “You have to listen to the voice of the character, constantly meditating on it, in waking hours, in dreams… talking about it to family and friends 24×7. And god sends you a signal. Bingo! You begin to hear the voice in your head clearly and the character is ready to walk in you.”

Not that all scripts allow him to be so consumed and possessed. But those like ‘Kennedy’, which he nursed for eight long months, do. Though makers like Ram Gopal Varma, Shekhar Kapur, Shyam Benegal, Vishal Bhardwaj and, of course, Kashyap get wholesome praise for shining the light on good cinema, he is blatant enough to state that most work does not allow you to explore so deep. He explains, “Our commercial construct, the blueprint of the business model, is ill-designed.”

Between getting into the skin of an imaginary character like DSP Tomar to essaying the part of Sanjay Gandhi in the forthcoming ‘Summer of 77’, he admits, “Undeniably, it is more challenging to play someone who has walked this mortal earth.” But he also reminds how Sanjay Gandhi is not someone who lives in popular imagination, like, say, Mahatma Gandhi or even Indira Gandhi or Jawaharlal Nehru. He adds, “To play our honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for instance, would be a Herculean task, for, he is right there.” But, yes, he does promise that his portrayal of Sanjay Gandhi will be an interesting one, whose “sense of power will be visible, but not by shouting”. And most certainly, he will not be a caricature as our real characters often end up being on screen.

For the absence of soul in our ‘real reel’ personalities, he doesn’t blame the talent; “we have enough,” he insists. Rather, he feels, “Actors don’t get enough time to prep. And then our flawed, even outdated, model of making star-driven films needs to change.” He believes the current impasse will continue until we are ready to “make a ‘Titanic’ with a new actor and not a superstar”. Of course, back in time, he also wanted to become a superstar. But as his role models, from Amitabh Bachchan to Irrfan Khan, have changed over the years, he professes, “I go for performances rather than individual actors. An actor is as good or bad as his script. After all, filmmaking is not a solitary endeavour like painting, but a collaborative effort.”

For someone who has risen like a phoenix in his second avatar, he can’t say if life is all about second chances. Instead, he states, “Life is about struggle.” Precisely why he does not like to wallow or lament in the past. “For me, kal — yesterday or tomorrow — doesn’t matter,” he avers. Of course, one kal, the childhood years spent in Kashmir valley, are precious.

From terrorism to migration, this Kashmiri Pandit has seen it all. The trauma of being displaced from one’s home possibly defines the many layers of the actor in him. But the two stories he has penned on his home state won’t be about terrorism — “terror, terror bahut ho gaya” — but tales of common people. One is even a folk tale adapted to modern times. However, he has no intention of wielding the directorial baton as his hands are full with acting assignments. Among them is a major Hollywood production that he has just finished shooting for in Prayagraj (details will be announced at the Cannes Film Festival).

For someone who came to Mumbai sailing on his dashing physical persona, his advice to wannabe actors is: “Good looks and acting have no correlation whatsoever. Read as much as you can. Watch movies, not for entertainment, but to learn from them. Pick up one actor and follow his graph.” Aspiring actors could follow Bhat’s recent work for that masterclass in acting. What’s more, many more lessons from him are underway.

The actor in him is constantly brewing, forever ready for that deep dive so that the audiences can watch him outdo himself.

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