Veteran theatre persona and actor Surya Mohan Kulshreshtha, 70, is ok with taking part in a personality that exhibits him as a godman convicted of sexual misconduct. The function that he performs, within the upcoming movie Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai, additionally acquired a discover from the followers of self-styled godman Asaram Bapu.
“The story is totally based on advocate PC Solanki (played by Manoj Bajpayee), after acquiring rights from the lawyer. As an actor, I am just playing this character of Baba and have done my job with full honesty as it’s an important role and the film is based on him,” says the actor who was final seen in Mira Nair’s TV sequence A Suitable Boy (2020) that was shot in Lucknow-Kanpur. He was seen essaying the function of godman in that sequence too.
Kulshreshtha stays unfazed by negativity such roles deliver alongside. “When I play (or write) a role for theatre or film, whether it’s in positive or negative light, that doesn’t make any difference to me. I even featured in a rape scene in the film but then that’s character sketch. Even if it’s annoying to watch, the message this film gives is surely positive. I feel darker the roles, greater the positivity.”
To get into the pores and skin of the character he needed to analysis at size. “I did a lot of study to understand how with the magic of words, body language and conversations these godmen make huge following, and people start believing them blindly. I have tried not to copy anyone and tried to create a unique character.”
Kulshreshtha has been director of Bhartendu Natya Academy (BNA), Lucknow, from 2006-09 and has been the coed of its founding batch in 1976 underneath Padma Shri Raj Bisaria. He has acted in movies like Yeh Woh Manzil Toh Nahi (1986), Monsoon Shootout (2013) and Daas Dev (2018).
“Theatre keeps me very busy. I do very few films and my favourite remains a short film called The Bypass (2003) with Irfaan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui which won many international awards,” he provides.
Source: www.hindustantimes.com