Stepping from theatres to films: Adil Hussain

The name Adil Hussain may not ring a bell for moviegoers in the South, but mention the father of Pi in the Hollywood blockbuster Life of Pi and it strikes a chord. Of course there are a few more greys in his hair now. The Assamese actor started off doing plays while still in school and went on to act in Assamese, Bengali, Hindi, English, Tamil and Marathi films. He will now be adding Malayalam to his list with his entry to Mollywood through the film Naval Enna Jewel in which he plays the role of an intelligence officer.

A man careful in selecting his roles, Adil explains his reasons for signing this film. “This is unlike any role I have played so far which made me surpass the boundaries of my linguistic limitations and accept it.”

“The subject and story is extremely relevant in today’s world where women are being targeted in warzones.”   Speaking about the language barrier, Adil states, “I am definitely struggling with the language and 90 per cent of the words are totally foreign to me, but thankfully there are a few familiar words from Sanskrit. I am trying to learn the lines by understanding the meaning of each word so that I can make sense of the dialogues when I say it.”

This is not Adil’s maiden visit to Kerala. The quest for perfection had led him here in 1995 when he stayed at Kalamandalam for six months to learn Kathakali. The reason? He explains, “I had to learn Kathakali as a part of the training for my play Othello where I was required to perform Kathakali! I love the food and the beauty of Kerala and the time spent here remains close to my heart.”

Though Adil is busy with films including some big budget ones like the Tamil Robo 2 and other language films, theatre has been his forte and there is no denying that the medium has moulded the actor in him. Adil says, “It is a medium where you can practise the craft of acting.”

Adil has also been lucky that he never had to look for work; he did one film and the other roles just followed. He smiles and quips that the role in Life of Pi too happened ‘just like that’! He explains, “My mentor was the casting director in Delhi and he asked me to read a scene. I did that and got a call saying Ang Lee wanted to meet me. I met him and he told me that I was playing the role.”

Though Adil’s work is in Mumbai, he prefers to reside at his home in Delhi. He states, “It saves me from all the uninteresting aspects which accompanies acting like parties, awards etc.” “I am definitely struggling with the language and 90 per cent of the words are totally foreign to me”