International award brings new ‘bhor’ for Nalneesh!

‘Gulabo Sitabo’ actor Nalneesh Neel didn’t bathe for two months, tanned himself and spent long days in a village to get deep into the skin of the character depicting Musahar community for his film.

Nalneesh’s efforts paid off as his role in ‘Bhor’ rewarded him with best actor in negative role award at Caleidoscope India Film Festival at Boston (US), recently.

An alumnus of Bhartendu Natya Academy, Lucknow, Nalneesh played a middle-aged. “I was 32-year-old when this film was shot in 2017 while the character that I played was in 45-50 age group. In the film, I play a father to a married youngster so I did lot of preparation to look aged. Before the shoot, we spent two months in a village to prepare and learn about the community which is known to feed on rats. Since, I belong to Bisalpur village (Pilibhit) I have closely seen rural life that was of great help to me,” said the UPite.

Detailing his prep for the role, he said,“We exchanged old clothes from Musahar members to get that real look. Once when I went to my hotel in that get-up I was not allowed to enter the premise. That was a tactic applied by our director Kamakhya Narayan Singh to check whether we were on the right track.” Nalneesh took inspiration from actors like Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro for the detailing of the character to make it believable.

The film that covers the issues such as open defecation, education and caste matrix also won best film on social issues award. “It’s due to blessings of teachers in Lucknow, my friends and well-wishers that I got his award. It has been ten years since I’m working and never won an award in the country. And now getting an international recognition is truly a special feat for me. It inspires me to work very hard in future too,” said the ‘Fukery’ and Chichhorey’ actor adding that the film will get an OTT release.

It was because of his performance in ‘Bhor’ that Shoojit Sircar awarded him role in ‘Gulabo Sitabo’ that was shot in Lucknow.