Naseeruddin Shah turned 71 years old on 20th July. He prefers to keep his birthday celebrations minimalistic, just as he has managed to keep himself low-key over the years. Subhash K Jha from SpotboyE chatted with the living icon about turning a year older as well as Indian cinema.
Naseeruddin was asked that the future remains uncertain, what are your thoughts on mortality and immortality through one's art?
He said, “Thoughts of mortality has been in my head since I turned fifty. Each new decade introduces one to newer bodily frailties. And I want to get more work done before my time is up. The thought of death doesn't scare me but the possibility of becoming an invalid does”.
He also talked about how he feels about his birthday. The actor said,” Each birthday now mainly means the tolling of the bell! I was shooting in the day and in the evening my children and a few close friends gathered to celebrate while I sat around as sober as a judge and watched indulgently”.
Talking about doing a play, he said, "Theatre, like a tree, is a living thing which continues to organically evolve, unlike films where once it's done it's done. Also in theatre one can engage with the greatest texts in the world whereas in our cinema we have to mostly make do with the work of hacks and plagiarists. There are a couple of things that I have in mind for future theatre productions but everything now depends on Shri Covid ji Maharaj”
For the unversed, Naseeruddin Shah was admitted to the Khar-based P D Hinduja Hospital and Medical Research Centre, a non-COVID-19 facility, last month. He got discharged on 7th July.
The National Award-winning actor was last seen in the film 'Mee Raqsam'.