His clowning acts in theatre and too-good-to-be-true dramatisation of Manto have kept stage audiences entertained, and now, actor Ashwath Bhatt’s acting prowess garnered a lot of praise after he was seen in Meghna Gulzar’s latest film, Raazi. Remembered for his portrayal of a terrorist Zahoor Hussain in Haider (2014), Ashwath plays Mehboob Syed, the elder brother of Vicky Kaushal’s character in the Alia Bhatt-starrer.
Narrating how he got to play a part in Raazi, he says, “Jogi Malang — the casting director of the film – called me when I was travelling. I sent him a self-audition based on the rough script that he had shared. Later, I told him that I need to send a better audition video, but he refused saying, ‘Nahi nahi… perfect, perfect’. When he realised that I was unconvinced, he revealed ‘Meghna ko pasand aya hai. Ab tu jake Talvar (2015) dekh le’. That’s when I realised who I was being auditioned for,” says Ashwath, who is presently shooting for the Akshay Kummar-starrer Kesari.
So, was working with Meghna one of the reasons that Ashwath agreed to be part of Raazi? “I was choosy from the beginning. After Haider, which I did because I had been a great fan of filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj’s work, I was offered dozens of terrorist roles. And I wondered why? I understand that there are a lot of constraints in commercial cinema [when it comes to casting actors]. But, just because I’m a Kashmiri and I play such intense characters well doesn’t mean that I should get all terrorist characters. Like in Omerta, they show a terrorist, too, but if you get to play a character like what Rajkummar Rao has got, then it’s worthwhile. I was offered Omerta, but I refused because they were asking me to play just another terrorist,” says the actor, who has worked in Mira Nair’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2012), Kabir Khan’s Phantom (2015) and Oscar-winning Danis Tanovic’s Tigers (2014).
{{/usCountry}}So, was working with Meghna one of the reasons that Ashwath agreed to be part of Raazi? “I was choosy from the beginning. After Haider, which I did because I had been a great fan of filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj’s work, I was offered dozens of terrorist roles. And I wondered why? I understand that there are a lot of constraints in commercial cinema [when it comes to casting actors]. But, just because I’m a Kashmiri and I play such intense characters well doesn’t mean that I should get all terrorist characters. Like in Omerta, they show a terrorist, too, but if you get to play a character like what Rajkummar Rao has got, then it’s worthwhile. I was offered Omerta, but I refused because they were asking me to play just another terrorist,” says the actor, who has worked in Mira Nair’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2012), Kabir Khan’s Phantom (2015) and Oscar-winning Danis Tanovic’s Tigers (2014).
{{/usCountry}}In Raazi, however, Ashwath agreed to play an officer from the Pakistani forces. “Because to me it was about playing an officer from the armed forces; it didn’t matter if the officer was in the army of India or Pakistan. The character has to be substantial,” he quips.
“In fact, very few people know that I have been to the Pakistani cantonment as part of a German theatre company, and otherwise also on several occasions. So, I have closely seen the armed personnel in both the countries, and the conditions and pressures under which they work. That’s why I could relate to the story of Raazi, which shows how we get stuck in situations. Also, a film is a director’s medium. So, before taking up a role, I ask the director how much of it is going to get edited. I didn’t have to ask Meghna because her process is very different. I knew from the very beginning that my part is integral to the story,” says Ashwath, who is excited to be part of 99 songs, a musical film written by Vishwesh Krishnamoorthy and AR Rahman.
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