Urban Legend: The infamy doctrine How a humble politician' takes on Karnataka

With love pouring in from across the city, Danish Sait, with his wit and versatility, has found himself a spot the heart of every true blue Bengalurean. Humble Politician Nograj, a scathing take on local politics, is Danish's newest brainchild, one that takes him off the airwaves and to the silver screen. He puts away his bevy of foreign accents for his favourite avatar, Nograj, the humble local! Danish Sait talks to Aksheev Thakur about leaps of faith and realising one's dreams.

Nograj, now a household name, drew people in hordes to the movie theatres when it made to the silver screen early this year, but  Danish Sait, the man behind it all, does not see anything unsual about his transition from being a Radio Jockey (RJ) to an actor as he believes it was bound to happen one day, acting being one of his childhood dreams. “It was natural and had to happen at some point in time. Nobody gave me a chance and so I dexcided to give it to myself,” Danish smiles.

Widely appreciated as one of the finest radio and television presenters of the country, Danish’s tryst with the movies hasn’t been bad either. His Humble Politician Nograj has been showered with love and accolades, fulfilling his long held dream of  becoming an actor. But being the multi-tasker he is, Danish is modest about his latest acheivement.  

Danish as Humble Politician Nograj

“I have spent enough time doing stage shows. For instance, the RCB insider show where I played Mr Nags had many funny moments. So playing the character was not a challenge,” he explains,   happy that at the end of the day there is hardly any  box he has not ticked so far in his career.

As for the success of Humble Politician Nograj , Danish is all praise for director Saad Khan for striking the right chord with  the audience while juggling with social issues. The duo have known each other since the time Danish’s prank calls were getting popular. Saad, then presenter of The Improv comedy group, asked him to join the next act , sowing the seeds of  a much longer association. “We knew who we were targeting and that we wanted a commercial flavour  so as to not make it boring. The credit goes to Saad,” Danish goes on , revealing that Humble Politician Nograj  has  been well received even by the political community, which has found it astoundingly funny.

The movie is the only latest feather in the cap for Danish, who after pursuing his higher education at the St Joseph’s College of Commerce in the city, worked for an advertising agency for a while before moving to Bahrain and later Dubai, only to return in 2012 to become a much loved RJ. His prank shows on the radio made him a household  name in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai and received over 32 million plays on the Internet not just in  India, but also the USA and UAE.

But eager to conquer new territories,  Danish  decided to move to digital platforms and then to the visual. “Lately I realised that the visual medium was catching up. I wanted to reinvent myself and so I started doing stuff on YouTube and took it to Facebook live,” Danish adds

Multi-talented that he is, he was a hit here too as his satirical social commentaries on demonetisation and the protest against the steel flyover in the city got him much applause. In fact, one of the shows on demonetisation fetched him over six lakh views.

“While doing a video on demonetisation, I just cried for five minutes saying I had black money and did not know what to do. People laughed and loved it. When we saw that the viewership was huge, we decided to go ahead and make a film,” Danish recalls.  

While reflecting on the controversy over Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmavath, he says philosophically that change is the only constant and   hopefully things will improve.

“We can crib about things that the people in power do,  but the reality is that if we do not vote for the right people these issues will continue. However, life is not as bad it is portrayed on  social media,” he sums up, leaving you with the hope of a coming sequel to his much liked  debut movie.