“Whether the audience likes it or not, you have to sell yourself aggressively as an actor”

AANJJAN SRIVASTAV

To mark his 73rd birthday today on June 2 this year, we carry an interview of AANJJAN SRIVASTAV with JYOTHI VENKATESH in which he says that an actor has to market himself aggressively to survive in this trade. We at bollyy.com and Mayapuri wish the thespian a happy and prosperous birthday.

You seem to have joined the bandwagon of actors who change their names because of numerology!

My numerologist Sunil Naik suggested that I should change the spelling of my name from Anjan to Aanjjan. The change in my name has worked wonders for me. I am getting the best of offers from directors. I never thought I would be working with Anees Bazmee, Harry Baweja, Anubhav Sinha, Ramgopal Varma, Subhash Ghai and Pradeep Sirkar (three ads).

 You have come a long way since the Wagle Ki Duniya days. In what way do you think the scenario has changed today?

Marketing has taken over in a big way not only films ansd TV serials but also of actors. As an actor I had full confidence in my capacity and craft but  I realized that my minus point was that  I did not care at all about marketing myself, which has become very necessary in today’s scenario.

Can you please elucidate on this point?

Look at Paresh Rawal. He is a brilliant actor who knows how to market himself. Paresh has raised the bar of the character actor and is today in a position to demand his price and also get star billing and share stellar honors like  he did with Amitabh Bachchan and Tabu in Cheeni Kum.

Do you think you have lost out of not marketing yourself as an actor?

When I see better actors sitting at home, I feel that I have not lost out much as an actor because even today Touchwood, I am in a position to select my roles. Though I am of the opinion that art is not a commodity, which can be marketed, today I see every star from top to bottom in Bollywood marketing himself or herself. I too have now learnt how to market myself as an actor. If I could market the Juhu branch of Allahabad Bank for 31 years that I had worked with the bank, and procured accounts of Amitabh Bachchan, Jackie Shroff, Raj Babbar, Sushmita Sen and most of the TV stars of today, I can very well sell myself too.

Do you recommend aggressive marketing of actors to survive in the trade?

Whether the audience likes it or not, you have to sell yourself aggressively as an actor. It is however sad that art has been polluted very badly because of aggressive marketing.

 Besides films and television, you seem to continue to dabble with theatre too!

Yes. I enjoy my tryst with the theatre because that is where my roots are. I am excited about working in plays like Kaswhmakash, Bakri, Moteram Ki Satyagrah, Aakhri Shama etc with directors like M.S. Sathyu, Raman Kumar, Ramesh Talwar etc The burning fire to act on the staged keeps me alive even today and I am still in demand as far as the theatre is concerned.

Can you evaluate your growth in the last 51 years?

From the time I had started acting for All India Radio, Calcutta and Calcutta theater groups in Bengali and Hindi, when I was just 21, I think I have grown tremendously as an actor. I can judge my growth as an actor only through the theatre. When I get the feedback for my performance in Kashmakash, I realize that I have indeed grown a lot as an actor.

Are you a natural actor or a director’s actor?

I need a director who can exploit me fully like the late Kundan Shah, Indra Kumar or for that matter Rajkumar Santoshi who have utilized me to the maximum extent. If the director gives me complete freedom, it helps me as a natural actor. Even today, people remember my roles in films like Damini, Pukar, China Gate, Bandhan and Lajja.

 Is it true that you have now also taken to Bhojpuri films in a big way?

I have always been open for good offers whether on television or films, whether Hindi, Bengali or Telugu. I have acted in four films in Bhojpuri including Damadji with Manoj Tewari, Beti Bail Pardesi with Chaila Bihari, Rasik Balma and Maike Aanchalva Charo Dhaam with Ravi Kissen. I had also acted in Bengali film Ekti Nodir Naam with Mithun Chakraborty and a Bengali TV serial Haath  Badha Laiye Bondhu.

 What is your secret desire as an actor?

I have done several positive roles since the time I started my career with serials like Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi. Now I wish to do negative roles, if I get the chance. The Wagle prototype has been exploited completely. Now I need to do major negative characters like I had played in Pukar where I had meaty scenes with Madhuri Dixit and Anil Kapoor.

Do you have plans to take up direction?

I have helped quite a few new directors in direction. I think it is now high time I readied myself to take up direction. I will try to start my own production if I do not get the kind of roles, which I want to do.