“My Best Is Yet To Come Though I Have Spent Twenty Years In Films As An Actor”- Aftab Shivdasani

Jyothi Venkatesh

Taking a short break at the music release function of Ashwini Chaudhary’s latest film Setters at the Sin City, Aftab Shivdasani who I have known right from the time he has made his debut as a adult hero in Ramgopal Varma’s film Mast tells me that it is over 20 years since he has been in the film industry as an actor but till date he does not regret even a single film that he has acted till date.

“Yes,  do not at all regret my past choices of films that I have selected as an actor, because every film that I have done till date has been a learning curve as far as I am concerned. I am grateful to people at large for thinking of me as a good actor. Every film in which I have acted till date may not have clicked in a great way at the box office but it is unfair to blame the actor for the dismal failure of any film. It is very unfortunate that when a film of an actor does not do well at the box office, people tend to put the onus on the actor’s shoulders”.

Aftab is quite excited about his latest release Setters. ‘It is a film which is akin to food that will make you think. It tackles a widespread massy issue. It is a very topical as well as relevant film in today’s times and is about the rampant education mafia and the loopholes in the education system, which allows it to flourish and corrupt the moral fabric of the youth today.”

Aftab adds that there is no element of fiction in the film which is out and out an issue based film which also sets out to entertain in its own way. “UI was shocked  to know what was happening  is soc iety and when the offer came to me from Ashwini Chaudhary, I readily jumped  at the offer to play n upright cyber cell cop as I felt it was my duty to portray such a role  as my contribution towards the society.”

Aftab continues. “To strike a call with people and say that the muck exists in society today is a tough task, especially when you set out to make a fast paced thriller like Setters which does not at all give you time to think. The USP of the intense film is its intense actors, whether it is Shreyas Talpade, Pavan Malhotra or for that matter Ishita Dutta , Sonnalli Seygall or me.”

The socio political thriller, according to Aftab, exposes a scam that runs like an industry and nets approximately $5000 cr, making it the third largest in the world today. The film underlines the examination scams in our system, which has an adverse impact on employment and education. The movie offers an in  depth insight into the modus operandi of this vicious industry, which records over 2000 cases every year from across India.

Talking about director Ashwini Chaudhary with whom he has acted for the first time, Aftab says, “Aswini is a very chilled out director who is intelligent and also full of information. He researched on the subject thoroughly for almost three years and in the process reads the details of real life scams and incorporated some of them into his script, which is a real time narrative that exposes the functioning of the education mafia which has succeeded in creating a separate system and have always avoided incarceration due to money and muscle power”

Ashwini has his ears to the ground and knows the pulse of the audiences. “The best thing about him is that he does not have the sheep mentality and is one of the rare directors who will not eat his lunch till his actors and even the lowest spot boy has not had his lunch. Aftab Shivdasani who says that Rajkumar Hirani, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Karan Johar and Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra are among his wish list of directors with whom he would love to work with, says that among his films till date, he would like to pick up Mast, Kasoor, Shukriya, Ankahee and last but not the least Setters as his five best till date in a span of twenty years”.

Aftab adds, “Directors like Vikram Bhatt, Ramgopal Varma and Indra Kumar have all extracted excellent work out of me. Though I have been a part of comedy films like Awara Paagal Deewana, Great Grand Masti, I still want to be part of different issue based films like Setters, which will prod people to think a lot.  I want to work with all types of directors, who can tell a story in an interesting manner to the audiences.”

Aftab reiterates that he has no complaints absolutely against any director. “I am grateful to whatever I have been able to achieve as an actor till date. I can only aspire to be my best version of myself and leave gratification to the people around me but always try to be my best as an actor. I am happy that today you can be part fo good cinema which can also be commercially saleable. Today actors who believe in their own craft can make their films commercially viable because they know that the content will always be the king.”

Aftab signs off by stating that there is a lot of difference between what he was when he started his career as a child actor in Mr India and now when he has been a part of a film like Setters. “I have had a pretty long career but still I feel that my work has not yet begun. Right now, I am considering a couple films as well as a web series but though I have heard the narrations, I have yet to sign on the dotted lines. In have seen a few web series like Sacred Game and I am open to do a web series which offers me something radical and has a lot of intensity.”

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