In cinema, you are only as good as your last project: Sharman Joshi

Sharman Joshi talks about the challenges in his profession, how setbacks can be disappointing and says that to ‘emerge out of a setback, one needs patience, luck and opportunity to prove oneself’.

In his 20-year-old career, Sharman Joshi has been appreciated in a number of roles including Rang De Basanti (2006), Golmaal (2006), Life in a... Metro (2007), 3 Idiots (2009), and Ferrari Ki Sawaari (FKS; 2012), among others. And though people appreciate his talent and versatility, he has been seen in fewer number of films.

Sharman Joshi is thrilled with the response to the second season of his web show Baarish.

Joshi talks about the challenges in his profession, and says, “Choices mein galti ho gayi ho toh, please give me another chance (smiles). We are all humans and make errors. In this profession, you are only as good as your last project. Some films don’t turn out the way you expect them to. Post FKS, three of my films — War Chod Na Yaar (2013), Gang of Ghosts and Super Nani (both 2014), didn’t turn out the way they were on paper. That was a bit of a setback for me and disappointing, too. To emerge out of a setback, one needs a lot of effort, patience and luck. I am glad I got Mission Mangal last year.”

Having been an actor for so long, Joshi knows what it takes to make it work. Ask him about favouritism and nepotism in the industry, and he relies, “To get a break in the industry can be quite exasperating and disappointing but that is the challenge all of us have taken on. It is the same with any competitive profession, including sports. In the film business, people want to work with a certain set of actors and that is fair as you want a team that is on the same page as you and in sync. I can’t point fingers at someone if he or she is working constantly with one person. Like I did two films back-to-back with Mr (Rajkumar) Hirani and Mr (Vidhu Vinod) Chopra as they liked me as an actor and I was more than happy to be part of their films.”

Joshi is happy with the response to the second season of his web show Baarish and has a few films lined up for release including director Umesh Shukla’s Aankh Micholi. He is looking forward to shooting filmmaker duo Abbas Mustan’s thriller for an OTT soon. “Mystery thrillers are their forte and I am quite excited about the project as I wanted to work with them. It also stars Arjun Rampal and Bobby Deol,” he concludes.