Being a stage actor taught actor Pankaj Tripathi the art of improvisation, something that he has continued to apply in his film career too. To improvise, you must be spontaneous, aware, have a sense of humour and a social satirical sense, says the actor, acclaimed for films like “Masaan”, ‘Gurgaon” and “Newton”.
“There are lot of factors that come into play when improvising. Most of all one must fully be there in the scene. You cannot wait for a cue. It is after many years of experience, working in good theatre plays, with great teachers and working on one’s craft will an actor be able to improvise.
“I try and do it with every film. I have lines that audiences love and that have clicked with them, all of which have been improvised,” he said in a statement. A National School of Drama alumnus, Pankaj’s latest movie to release is “Stree”, which stars Rajkummar Rao and Shraddha Kapoor in the lead.
Was to good to be true: Rasika on bagging ‘Manto’. For actress Rasika Dugal, the way Nandita Das’s upcoming film “Manto” landed in her lap, was too good to be true. Rasika was cast as Safia Manto in the film, which is on the life of late writer Saadat Hasan Manto, for various reasons. The most important was the similarity in looks, which is why the actress didn’t need any kind of prosthetic for the film.
On being cast in the Nawazuddin Siddiqui-starrer and how it felt when she received a call from Nandita, Rasika said in a statement: “I met Nandita for the first time when I had performed in a Cineplay (an initiative) and then when she had come to watch my film ‘Qissa’.
“She was very appreciative of my performance in both and said she was writing a film on Manto and had me in mind for a part. I didn’t know which part then but was very excited about getting an opportunity to work with her and excited about a film on Manto since I was an avid reader of his work.
“She said she was putting the film together and would get in touch when she was ready to cast.” For some months thereafter, Rasika didn’t hear from Nandita. “I was tempted to write to her in the months that went by to check about that but didn’t want to disturb her. Finally I got a mail from her almost a year later (by which time I had thought that she had probably cast someone else) saying she wanted to meet.
“I thought there would be a long process of auditions and readings that would follow before she decides on the cast. But at the meeting, Nandita said she wanted me to play Safia Manto and gave me a script to read. It was too good to be true. I think I did a little dance on my way out from her house that day.”
“Manto” will release on September 21. We will all be proud of ‘Uri’: Yami Gautam
Actress Yami Gautam is confident her film “Uri”, based on the Uri attack of September 2016, is a project people will be proud of. For her role as an intelligence officer in the film, in which she features with Vicky Kaushal, Yami has undergone training to pull off the action scenes.
Asked about the experience of working on it so far, “More than tough, I would use the word challenging for it. But it’s a happy challenge… It’s not something I am stressing about.” Yami credits the stress-free environment to a great team. ‘Kaabil’ is a big example… You know how intense that film was, but we had an amazing time shooting it. And by amazing time, you don’t have to be partying… I mean the vibe and energy that goes on, where everyone works selflessly.
“That’s the kind of environment our ‘Uri’ director Aditya Dhar has on the set… It’s his first film but it’s wonderful how he has done the research and has clarity and passion about what he is doing. It should be a film we all will be proud of,” added Yami, who will next be seen in “Batti Gul Meter Chalu”.
