Naseer gets behind wheel

Talks about his role as a driver in Barah Aana

After winning accolades as the common man in Neeraj Pandey's A Wednesday, Naseeruddin Shah now goes behind the wheels in Raja Menon's Barah Aana.

"I had two more films after A Wednesday Shoot On Sight and Maharathiu00a0but both sank without a trace," points out Shah who has just begun shooting in Bhopal for Prakash Jha's Rajniti.

Listening in: Naseeruddin Shah in Barah Aana

Empathising with drivers

Barah Aana is a film that Naseer could empathise with easily. "Even though I drive myself, we see drivers everywhere. If they aren't driving they are sitting around waiting for their bosses. Some of them do read newspapers to spend time waiting."

The film takes on three losers who reside in the same neighbourhood and have been shortchanged in life. One is a driver, the other is a watchman and the third is a waiter.

Says Naseer "I essay the character of a driver who is driving around the memsahib (Jayati Bhatia). She is a yakkity-yak person always berating me on my driving and treating me badly in public. At the wheel, what does the driver do but cruise along and listen?"

But all this continuous silence one day leads to an explosion. "That is the crux of the film," he says.

Interestingly, Naseer said yes to Barah Aana on the tennis court. "Raja and I play tennis together. One day he related the story he had in mind. I loved his script and agreed immediately.

I don't like to pontificate and brood over whether I should say yes or no to a film. It has be spontaneous after listening to the storyboard," says Naseer who also features in Nandita Das' Firaaq and Vishal Bhardwaj's Ishqiyaa.

Though he has no script in hand, he would like to direct a film again "to set right my record as a filmmaker," he says. Naseer's directorial debut, Yun Hota To Kya Hota in 2006, met with a lukewarm response.

'Awards are a joke'

Though Neeraj Pandey's A Wednesday won awards for best film and director at some events and despite critical acclaim, Naseer did not feature in the list of best actor awards.

The outspoken Naseer says, "Awards have been a joke in recent times. They bore me to death and I have stopped attending them. It is idiotic and funny to watch the proceedings at such events."