 Thank you so much. It's really an honor for us. You are a you're my favorite actor just completely. I have seen you all interviews and all on show. Really? Yeah. That means a lot. So if you just wanted to sit down and so thank you so much for joining us. Yeah we've just been introduced a little over a year ago to really be introduced to Indian cinema and artistry and one of the first people that we were impressed with deeply was you. To the extent that you're not just we don't put you in a category of favorite Indian actor. You're one of our favorite actors of all time period. So we just wanted you to know to be able to talk with you as people who love the craft and act. It's a dream. It is for him too. You are at the top of the list for this matter. We're both actors so most of the questions are going to be basically acting based. Yeah well the first question I had is when you create a character is the process of that typically the same for you? The process you go through or does it does it change character to character? Of course it doesn't happen. The same process doesn't happen because if people depend on the character, they demand some kind of different pressure. Same process. It's not the same process. For example in commercial films there is no requirement of that. There is no requirement of preparing a certain way. It's just commercial and it's just dramatic. But of course that's not cinema. It's different to commercial. So RT is different to parallel and parallel is different to commercial. So it depends from character to character. Absolutely. And do you prefer to play real people or do you prefer to play completely new to create it from the ground up? Like a biographies. Like a biosis of fiction. Like at all. All the characters. All the characters. So you prefer to play real people or fictional characters? There is no specific role. He doesn't differentiate. He doesn't differentiate. He appeals to me. I know you're a fan of Stanislavski and Magic If. What other teachers, any teachers, not just Stanislavski or Meisner or Strasberg, but what are other teachers of the craft that have really impacted the way you have become an actor? See, when we were in the dynasty, when I was in the national school, there were different teachers, different plays like Shakespeare, method acting, Russian play, Sanskrit play. There were different teachers. So mostly my favorite teacher was Valentin Kaple, who is from Moscow. Valentin? Kaple. Kaple. From Moscow. Because he introduced me to this craft. So he is saying that when he was in the national school of drama, there were lots of plays that he used to do from Shakespeare to Russian plays, all sorts of languages. And there is his favorite playwright. What is his name? Valentin Kapleko. He is from Moscow. So Valentin Kapleko is his favorite, which is used actually from Russia. Stanislavski is one of those teachers that you've mentioned. Yes, yes, yes. Maybe not as much as that one. Yeah, that's what matters. He was my teacher. He was your teacher. Yeah, yeah. Are there Indian teachers like Stanislavski or from India that we don't know that we should know about? See, Nasir Dusha had a little bit of an interaction with the legendary actor called Nasir Dusha. So he is my favorite teacher. Is that because he teaches you? Oh, yeah. Is he one of those or are there others? He is my favorite teacher. So there are lots of teachers, but Nasir Dusha is his favorite. Nasir Dusha taught you? Yeah. Okay, gotcha. Dang. That's awesome. We love Nasir Dusha. He is fantastic. Do you have any interest at all in directing film or do you want to stay solely focused on being an actor? Yeah, acting. Yeah. And I know you read your book. You talked about method acting in it, right? And certain actors, obviously Danny DeLos, he's kind of almost full method. Are you, you don't live in the character throughout the entire thing or do you? Do you have characters that you have written in your book about Danny DeLos and all these people? And do you win the character during the film shoot? And do you accept all the things? Of course, I try to win as much as possible during the shooting. And when everyone's preparation for the shoot starts, I try to be the one who is not like... There are a lot of exercises in method acting, so I apply it. Method acting has a lot of exercises that he tries to apply in his craft. So when he has any character that he's playing, he tries to live through it in as small ways as possible. I like that. He really likes doing it. The integrity of the character is what he really likes to sort of focus on. From how the character wits up to what he does, to what he does. Every sort of habit. And he tries to inculcate and live it from A to Z until the end of the film. I saw Phantom Thread the other night. Phantom Thread. I saw it in all the films. I was like... He was watching Phantom Thread the other night for the second time. And he realized that if you cannot actually prepare for the role that you're doing, it's impossible for you to be absolutely true to the character. It's not only that if you go and take the paper, you forget the script and the dialogue, and you forget the character in front of the camera. It's understood. What exactly is it? So basically you're saying you can't just take the script and read through it. No. It's not possible. No. You need to repression. Yes, yes, yes. Prepare and mentally get ready for it. Yes, yes. Like you had mentioned in the book, you liked the process Robert De Niro has gone through for Raging Bull. What he did for Taxi Driver. But my understanding of De Niro's process versus Daniel Day-Lewis is De Niro will do all of the prep work, all of his homework. But while filming, he can take a break from the character. Daniel Day-Lewis doesn't take a break. But you would be more De Niro than Daniel Day-Lewis as far as... Like for example, sometimes it depends upon the character, you know. Yeah, true. What it requires. When I was doing like Thakre, it was the process like the same. I followed the Daniel Day-Lewis kind of process. Absolutely. You have to take a break from it. Yes. I take a break from it. But for example, when there are some characters, I follow them. But when I am going on a shoot, I forget them. Was it like that in Mumbai? It was like that in Mumbai. No. So he says it depends on you. It's a basic line. You can improvise on the spot. So it's not like that. There are some characters in which you have to follow the process. You have to follow the process. And the script is telling you. So the film Thakre, which is based on the ex-Chief Minister of Maharashtra, one of the biggest legendary personalities of the state, when he played that character, he was absolutely immersed in the character. There was no stepping up. But then there are rules that he's done where he has spawned the sets and he has done what he has to do, done a lot of improvisations also and so it stepped back. But not like, what do you think most like Thakre? Most like defense. Gotcha. Yeah, that's what I thought. I just have a personal question. Would you ever play a Joker? If India decided they wanted to play Joker, like King Phoenix, that style? See the same character. Not the same story. Would you play that character? Yeah. Manik was dark. You would be my first choice. Pooch. He's saying, I've done a few dark roles but I'm trying to ask him, is it just a few? Yeah. Just for you. Just for you. But the mindset of Joker, I think when I was doing Raman Raghav, I think I was the same. I was in the same process, you know. So he sort of done the Joker before with Raman Raghav. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was in the same mindset. Yeah, mindset. Mindset. Yeah. So this is for both of us a very important question, because it's a very selfish question. Do you have any interest to do film in Hollywood, to play roles in Hollywood film, or are you content to continue with your career here in Indian cinema and just leave it at that? See, it was Hollywood film. It's a very serious film. Their thought is, it's not out. In some films, in 5-6 years, it's like this. I don't know if in many films, it's like this. One good thing about them is that 5-6 films, independent films, they can be learned from them. For example, every year, there are 2 films, 5-6 films, 6-7 films, 6-8 films. They feel that, as an actor, we are a little bit, but not the sake of, that I want to be a part of Hollywood, that's why. But I do feel that their standard, when they see it, they feel that the way they give the character, the way they give the art, the perfect city, the internal conflict, it's not in our name. I think there are some characters like that. Correct. Every year, there are so many films that come out in Hollywood. Sometimes they're just like Indian films as well. But they don't have any head or tail. Whether in 5-6 films, every year, which are independent films or otherwise, which are made with such finesse, which are made with such an arc, made with such complexities, that get into every character, the way the story has been told, everything. So he would like to have that sense, not only by going through Hollywood films, he would like to have that in India as well. So he doesn't want to just go to Hollywood just so that he can get a stamp. Of course, good, yeah. But he really wants to get into a film which is going to understand the complexities and it's going to bring that out to the audience. Friendly speaking, what's happening here is that our box office is being made more project-like. Personally, I feel that there are some characters who are in a conflict or in a world who explore a world that has a lot come and a lot come. The box office rules everything. If a movie is made 300, 400, 500 films, it really doesn't matter what the story is. I'm actually going to go ahead and criticize more about it. Things that he's not even mentioned. We're absolutely, like, really irritated of it. This is what he also wants. He basically wants a movie which explores the inner fears, inner passions, the inner world, the complexities of a character. Not only what is the amount of money that it's going to make. Of course. Yes. Yeah, I love that. Amen. So we watched Sacred Games and loved it. You were fantastic. Whoa! Yeah. That's the best I've ever seen. Yeah. And that's actually how we were introduced to you right next. I think that was the very first thing. No. Gangs was the first thing we saw. Oh, yes. And then Sacred Games. Okay. But do you prefer in terms of like hashing a character out through a series like that or do you prefer the process of a film making of a character? Like it's a shorter period of time as opposed to a longer period of time of the series. Which would, what do you prefer? Of course, the series would use the character details. It would take a lot of time. No. So that would be good too. But the time of the film is very short. So I couldn't go into detail in the character in the series. I experienced that in Sacred Games. Yeah. The series is slightly more special to him obviously because he can get into the details of the characters. Sure. Not that the films aren't important. No. But of course, I mean he sort of likes the entire process of series more because then he can play sort of a little bit more with the character. I would think so as an actor because you get to be that character for a longer period of time. Which leads me to the other question as well, comparing for example in theater, if you're doing a run of a show for two, three months it's different than a series that takes you on this journey but in a play you find something new every night. Is there any role or project that might draw you to do theater again or have you decided that film is it? Right now I'm enjoying films actually. Yeah. So I'm getting used to those of you know, concentration, of course which I can't like... Yeah. So that's, clearly that's you feel that's very important to stay focused, yeah? Yeah. But he's also trying to ask you whether or not all theaters are the person they are films are the person they are. Me, every film, I'm talking about. Because I... You got married. I got married. Yeah. So he's married to films now. Yeah. Theater he's done. Done too. Yeah. Theater was ex-girlfriend, married. Well put. Well put. Are there any roles, I think I'm pretty sure I know the answer. Are there any roles that you wish you could do again? You could rehash out or maybe you want to explore again? I don't know. Do you want to do something? I don't know. I don't know. Do you want to do something or do you want to do something or do you want to do something? There are so many characters actually. Yeah. The experience comes and it feels like I want to know more about the characters that are better. That's what I'm talking about. Do you have any three characters that you want to tell me? Those are the characters. Yes. If... So as in when he is moving further into this journey with experience he realizes that that character they've done that. Of course. Yeah. But there's so many characters he can't... So I asked him if he could choose three. Oh, yeah. I understand. Yeah. Very much. This is kind of an open question but you have achieved a certain level of success. Now I think I know the answers to the question. What are your goals? What are you hoping to do now? Is it to just be connected to other projects that you know you should be a part of? Do you have some projects of your own that you really want to get done? What's the next thing you'd like to see happen with your career as an actor? See, it's my life. I think I need to find out what I am actually. You know. What he is he's just trying to he's actually trying to find out the existential question to the purpose of his life through all these characters that are... This is quite deep but it's overwhelming. I'm sorry. But it basically he's trying to say that through every character he's trying to find out the purpose of his life. That makes sense. And so he's pretty excited with every type of that he does. And the process is going on. Yeah, the dream. I don't need anything like achievement. Right. What I achieved I don't believe in it. I'm just going on. That's it. Just the process. That's the process. Yeah. Do you have a role which you feel personally is your best work? I have my opinions. Best of all but I want your opinion. I think you have to come back to me. Which one? You have to come. It's not coming. Ah, good answer. I like it. Rain dancer. I like it. And do you and in terms of Hollywood and if you ever went there like are there certain directors that you would love to work with? Certain ones specifically? So many. Yeah. Yeah. I would love to see you on a Tarantino film. That's the movie. That would be a strength. Same with America not just American but just Hollywood actors because so many come from Australia and are there actors you would love to work with that you haven't worked with yet? I have a dream that you would like to work with Robert De Niro. I just came with a series of actors. Hunter. Hunter. So he is a promoter here. Okay. So I came from there to work with him. Okay. So I don't know why I chose him as a promoter but I am working with him. So when I first was in school I used to work for three months with him for three months with De Niro for three months with De Niro. When he was in school this is hilarious. When he was in school in the national school of drama three months you just become Robert De Niro. The other three months he was just Al Pacino. So he just choose what he wants to become for the next three months and he just just pick up and then he just be there and he just Finally our teacher said that this is a process because he knew that he was doing the second role and he became Al Pacino. The teacher told him the teacher the teacher told him don't do this it's absolutely wrong this process is absolutely wrong because he was copying me. Yeah. But he was doing another role. Yeah. Yes. I did that in a theater class with Al Pacino where it was and justice for all I did this character as Al Pacino and my theater teacher said that was great I'd like to see you do the scene now. Great Al Pacino impersonation. All actors were saying this is true. Al Pacino Robert De Niro I think that's pretty common towards the beginning when you try to be who your favorite actors are. Yeah. Yeah. But I've noticed in Indian cinema that people characterize you in negative roles a lot and that's not something that happens a lot in Hollywood like it's just like walking Phoenix playing the Joker they don't really characterize it as a negative role. Maybe he does her and then he does and so I was wondering if there's like you know why that is why it's like why in Indian cinema is it more of a negative role as opposed to just a role. I'm not talking about Indian cinema but especially Bollywood yes because you are from outside you are like five six five six feet and you are dark so you can't be hero. So it's a very like they believe that we are we are heroes you know take out certain certain people who are of a certain shape size color have effect have actually sort of taken the onus of being the hero and it works both ways the audiences have accepted them as heroes and they have accepted themselves as heroes so it's not the actor anymore it's just it's this is a hero that's a side actor that is a negative character and they have certain boxes in order to explain how that person even audience also yes if I am doing the main character or hero if I am playing a hero the audience will not accept me if he suddenly starts romancing a hero because it's like it's been happening for 60 years it's just happening this is the way it has been when I see how this hero can be it looks like like me how can he be how can he be a hero he looks like me very average fucker right but I know you want to play different characters yeah you don't want to play the same character exactly your character from lunchbox so you should be able to play from gangster completely yeah yeah as an actor I can play a hero also yeah absolutely hero also but hero always play hero that's why he is so typical typecast actually right I'm so happy they are all typecast happy yeah I'm so happy see oh yeah typical hero actually typical hero is a typecast actually yes so I'm so happy that's why he's happy and he's 5, 6 he's bad but he's not bad there are so many characters you can play so many different characters but they can play only one character yeah do you sense that changing it all in Bollywood or not I like it but change now it's coming like especially in the web series and all yeah not in films they are they are not accepting and audience also they are not prepared in the now it is happening but it's not it's not as as familiar as it should have been yeah I I think I'm an optimist but I think I think you are as good and respected an actor that I think you could easily be someone who helps break that stereotype as you go on your journey and take on different roles I think you very well could be someone that causes people to look at the hero in a different way when they watch you play a heroic character I really do I I I want to see you you you do you do you do do you do you do you do you do you you you I want to become a hero. I want to romance. He, when he entered, he wanted to romance. The Hindi film heroines, he wanted to romance. He wanted to lie around cheese and make love. But as soon as they saw him, they gave him a gun. He's really upset that he's not romancing. He's just using the gun and he's kidding me. So you'd like to be stereotyped as the hero? Yeah. Do you also equate that or what else? Because it took you, which was surprising to find out, it took you a while to break into the film industry. Kind of like it's similar to Steve Carell. It took him many years to actually get into the industry. Do you equate those reasons to that? Or is there something else? Is it just people that you know? What are the reasons why you're here? How long have you been here? Do you have anything to explain to them? How do you get into the industry? How do you get into the industry? The main reason is this. It's my personality. And when I was doing the ganks, two people came up to me and asked me who's the hero of this film. And the other one said, this is the one. So they said, this is the hero. It's not going to work. So what? It took him 11-12 years to break into the film industry. Why are you shooting organza vasipur? It's actually quite sad, but it was funny at that time. It was sad at that time as well. When I was shooting organza vasipur, there was someone who just sort of walked in and said, where's the hero of the film? And they sort of pointed at him and said, he's the hero. He's the hero. The film's not going to work. It took him 11-12 years to break that. And it's still ongoing. And he's still doing it. Wow. So it's still a challenge. Still a challenge for you. I'm doing three romantic things right now. Good. For my angst. Yeah. Yeah. In your face. I can't wait to see it. You know, trust me, he can't wait to see it either. One of my favorite definitions of acting was Sanford Meisner. He said acting is living truthfully under imaginary circumstances. Do you think that's a great answer to the question, what is acting? Or what for you, if I say to you, what is acting? There's also a wonderful definition of acting. There are so many people who came and they gave their own definition about acting. Like for example, there's a spiritual guru called Osho. He gave a quotation about acting. He said, life asses you just acting or acting as you do. So the spiritual guru, Osho, once mentioned this about acting. That is this quotation saying, you must live life like you're acting. And you must act like you're living life. I think that everybody's just doing it. Very, very good. It is. It's deep. That... What I like about that is the front part of it. I very much believe that actors... I don't consider actors to be better than other people in any way. I just know the actors that we love and we learn about them. Like most artists, they love life. They want to suck the marrow out of life. They want to learn and grow. And that's part of what happens when you become a character. You get to learn something new about the human experience. I love that definition. It's about the process. That answer incorporates the whole person. I love that answer. Beautiful. Do you consider yourself a master? You mean that thing? No? We asked this question to... Shame on you. We asked this question to Utsunoshiki, who was saying when we interviewed him and he gave us an answer that he's not a master even though he is. I wanted to ask you the same question. Do you think there are masters of acting or do you think you're always learning? I'm always a master. Do you think there is a master of acting or a master of acting in the movie? You see, you can be inspired but acting like... I think there's a... I think there are a lot of people who can be inspired and there are a lot of techniques who can be inspired. There are a lot of people in India. There are a lot of people in the world. But they are finding something out. You know? It's complete. You can get inspired from all the people that you think they are not masters but because there is a reason why they are not masters. Because you are getting inspired from them and they are getting inspired from someone else. So everybody is trying to get it out in one way or the other. They are trying to figure it out. I don't think he doesn't think it's complete. That's what I thought you were going to say. Okay, so we're going to add... No, I think we should go... We're going to ask you some rapid fire. You're just going to give us a quick answer. They're dumb questions. Yeah, there's no dumb questions. Oh, there are. We are our stupid masters. Coffee or tea? Coffee. Black coffee. Yes. Favorite Hollywood film? So my films are the same thing. Of course, just for now. Just for now? Yeah. Yeah, we love that film. Love. For a lot of reasons. Favorite Hollywood actor? Is it the same film? Yeah. Of course it is. Favorite Indian film? Favorite Indian film Is it called Cold? Yes. It's the same three years ago. Three years ago. I keep hearing... We've reacted to the trailer that we haven't seen it yet, but I heard amazing things about that film. You can ask that one. This might be a question. What I've noticed in Indian cinema is white actors are just terrible a lot of the time. The ones that look the really small part in the film. I was wondering if you know why that is. As much as we see in Indian cinema, the white actors who are foreigners are really bad. Is there a special reason why they are the worst? They are the smallest. It's true. It's true. We were watching a movie White actor comes on, Corbin says, Here we go. Every time. I don't understand. Do you know why? Because that's stupid. That's a good answer. Do you have a favorite hobby? To listen to background music most of the time. To listen to background music What's your favorite background score? Right now I'm listening to Steve Morgan I don't know the score. He's listening to Parkour School's Bye Steve Morgan. What's your pet peeve? There are things that are really fun to do. But, the things that are acceptable are not acceptable. They are fun to do. By the way, I'm trying to understand what exactly can I use in order to explain pet peeve. Little things that can annoy you. Something that irritates you quickly. It irritates me. It irritates me. What size is it? It's the size of a house. It irritates me a lot. It irritates me a lot. It irritates me a lot. Winter is better. Winter is better. Do you think anybody can be an actor? Not like a famous but anybody can be an actor. I don't think so. Training is very necessary for any actor. But you don't think anybody can be an actor. If you have a talent, then you get a certain level of talent. Training will give you a certain level of talent. That was my last question in the same spirit. I may know the answer, but what do you think an actor needs to do to stay focused and continue and get roles? There's the journey and then there's getting the work. You mentioned training. Is there anything else that you would tell an actor who's just starting what they need to do to stay focused and see their acting career begin to become a working actor? Work is one thing. How do you focus on yourself? How do you focus on being a good actor or being a good actor? Did you say training is very important? Passion is something that I call my children I don't call them that. It's something that comes from inside. You mentioned about being stubborn. Yes, being stubborn. There are many reasons for that. You cannot ask a 5-year-old or 6-year-old to come and study. I'm going to ask you to study now and that person will start studying. The child needs to have it in his or her own. There needs to be a certain passion. The focus is only going to come through passion and through perseverance. Also with the kind of stubbornness there needs to be something that is within you could be different for different people. He probably has a different reason stubbornness in order to be an actor. But you need to have that passion you need to have that. The fire in your body. What's the hardest thing about acting? Hardest thing to be honest for the character. I don't know if Corbin will ask this Corbin. He has a dream that one day he would hear in a wazid and siddiqui say Corbin is a mother troll. That is his dream. Can you look straight into my face and call me? Please. He really does. He really does. If you could stare straight into my eyes. What are you saying? What are you saying? He wants to know when he is going to die. He says to me that Corbin is a mother troll. Yes. He wants to know when he is going to die. He was equally committed. It was funny. He called me a mother troll. His dream just came true. He is not sleeping the seven nights. That was fantastic. Thank you so much for talking to us. This was a huge honor for me. It was. One of the things that we do we won't say something if it isn't true, if we don't believe it. We wouldn't tell you what we think of you unless we really felt that way. That's why we asked you the question about American cinema. We desperately want as many people especially in America to understand how good the cinema is that's coming out of India and from people like yourself that we consider some of the finest actors we've ever seen. Not just right now that we've ever seen. To be with you and spend time with you is truly an honor. We love your work. Can't wait to see more of your work. Thank you so much. When I watch the show all the details that we tell about the films are very like very correct those details. When he starts watching your videos when he started watching your videos he was like what is this fuckery? With every frame when Ayazan when he gets into the video he basically gets a sense of the fact that you guys take a look into details of so many things which is very very impressive and he appreciates that. So ugly but detailed. That's another huge compliment. Our stupid reactions tune in for the fuckery. Thank you so much. Hashtag Nawaz. Thank you so much.