The Shahs of bollywood are coming to Dubai!

Naseeruddin Shah's Motley Productions are set to stage Riding Madly off in all Directions at Ductac this weekend, starring beside the legendary actor, his wife Ratna Pathak Shah, and children Heeba, Vivaan and Imaad. This will be the first time that the entire family will perform together on stage in Dubai. This play presents the work of Stephan Leacock, the Canadian humorist. The set of five short stories are a satirical and amusing take on the everyday, mundane happenings, cleverly moulded into separate plots, and at times dark, designed to make one smile, not laugh. We had a chat with the entire family and it was a lovely roller coaster ride to talk to all five of them.

How different is to work with family than a group of other actors?
Naseer: It's very convenient first of all because they are all available for rehearsals at home. I try to be little less harsh with them than I am with my students because there is also a personal relationship involved obviously. I don't ease up on them but I have to be a little bit gentle. With the students, it's slightly different. I would say that I am  generally obstinate. I would say that I am insistent on getting it right. Yelling at a student is different to yelling at your own child because if you yell at your own child, it evokes a whole lot of other things. Whereas a student takes it in the spirit he is supposed to. I don't think I have been brutal with my kids. I have been very persistent with them like I am because I want to them to live up to their potential. Actors, in general, are pretty lazy species.

Ratna: Though all of us have worked in Motley before but never five of us together. It was an interesting experience and great fun but we had also a lot of heartburn. That's inevitable when five people with strong opinions and loud voices get together for two months. That friction helps because we trust Naseer's judgment as an actor and a director. These stories appear simple but they are very difficult to stage because we had to find a form for these ephemeral humorous moments that we created so magically. I made friends with the subject Mathematics thanks to the play. I hated Maths all my life so far. My play talks about the human element in Mathematics.

Imaad: I don't think he is very gentle with his family. He only knows how to function with honesty. He can't cloud what he feels. He is always brutally honest with us because that's the betterment for the larger piece. It's his responsibility to look at the play from the bird's point of view.

Vivaan: My dad is a very old-school guy. Nowadays everyone is so diplomatic, if he gets angry, he yells at you. It's better because there is honesty in that. He is also a big fan of Stephen. His approach is very different, he dramatises prose and turns them into a play. PG Wodehouse fans would really enjoy the play.

Heeba: He makes us read again and again till it has become one with our body. He insists that we shouldn't learn it by heart. He wants us to know the story instead of memorising it. As a director, he is very demanding and he is absolutely honest and brutal about it. He tells you that what you are doing is horrible. He tells you why he is yelling at you. He doesn't accept mediocre acting.
Riding Madly off in all Directions will be presented at DUCTAC on January 20 at 5 and
8pm.
Naseer's favourite heroes are Dara Singh and Shammi Kapoor
You grew up watching escapist cinema and movies featuring Dara Singh and Shammi Kapoor. How come you never took that route?
Naseer: I went with the tide.  I would have taken any movie that came my way when I began my career, no matter how bad it was. I needed a place to live and to feed myself. It was my good fortune that I started with people like Shyam Benegal and Govind Nihalani. I could have started with Joginder (laughs). It was not my doing. I don't deny that I wanted to do popular movies as well. In an attempt to be popular I did few movies which turned out absolutely terrible and nobody remembers those mercifully. They still remember Aakrosh and Junoon but they don't remember Sunayna and Shaayar. Thank God for that.
Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Irrfan Khan have found a successful balance in parallel and commercial cinema. Did they get lucky?

Naseer: They are managing both the cinemas in a much better fashion than any of us did. They are not just lucky. Luck is a combination of different factors- being there at the right place and the right time is one of the factors. Irrfan and Nawazuddin had a long struggle, people don't realise that. Nawaz has been around for 20 years and so has Irrfan. They have done all sorts of parts in serials and movies. You watch 1942: A love story and Nawaz is there in one shot. Even Aamir didn't remember that Nawaz acted in Sarfarosh. It's not that they had an easy time, they did not let the rejection of 20 years embitter them or make them give up. Besides, they are both extremely skillful actors and that's why they survived. it's not just luck.
Is Ratna Pathak Shah having a second inning with great roles in movies like Kapoor & Sons and Nil Battey Sannata?

Ratna: I got hardly any movies earlier so things are better for me now. I feel that there are more writers and directors interested in unusual stories and characterizations. Having said that, I do know that such work is much less than what I would like it to be. Last year was good for me, Kapoor & Sons and Nil Battey Sannata were both the films that I enjoyed making. I am already working in another film called Love per square Foot. I am awaiting the release of my next film Lipstick under my Burqa and that is a more unusual part of me than the one I have done before.
Favourite movies of Mum and Dad

Vivaan
Dad's movies - Masoom, Jalwa, Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyun Aata Hai, Bombay boys, but I love his movies that he did in the 70s...
Mum's movies - Kapoor and Sons, Encounter, Nil Battey Sannata, Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai.

Imaad
Dad's movies - Paar, Jalwa, Maasoom, Bombay Boys, Albert Pinto..., Jaane Bhi Do Yaaroen
Mum's movies - Idhar Udhar, Filmi Chakkar, Mirch Masala, Encounter, Nil Battey Sannata.

Heeba
Dad's movies - Jaane Bhi Do Yaaroen, Maasoom, Wednesday, Jalwa, Paar.
Mum's movies - Nil Battey Sannata, Sunday.
arti@khaleejtimes.com