Searching for meaning: Right role, not a big-name director, can win Adil Hussain

Actor Adil Hussain is a die-hard optimist. Every time he opens an e-mail with a script attached, he is looking for a chance to examine the nuances of life-spurring personal as well as professional growth.

His role in Mukti Bhawan - where his performance as a son watching his father prepare for death in Benares won him a special jury prize at the National Film Awards - was one such opportunity. And he's hopeful his next role will be as well received, he said following a screening of his latest film, Iram Haq's What Will People Say, at the Dharamshala International Film Festival in early November.

Focusing more on making artistic films (though he has also appeared in commercial movies like Robot 2), this National School of Drama-trained actor laments that the Indian roles he's offered rarely have multiple layers. The unspoken, unconscious and subterranean don't find a voice in the characters. "For me, cinema has to ascertain emotional evolution, not just for the audience but myself too," he says.

With more than 55 films under his belt in the last eight years, Hussain has had the luxury to reject 15 films this year. He's looking for the right role, not a big name director, he says. "Most of the work I get is through Facebook and Twitter. There is no agent. I don't want anyone to come in between the newcomer and me. Believe me, they offer me the most challenging parts." Shubhashish Bhutiani, who directed Mukti Bhawan, is 26 years old. Iram Haq is 41. "Look at the range. Their vision starts from where the horizon ends for many," he says.