'Shastry Virudh Shastry' starring Paresh Rawal, Neena Kulkarni, Shiv Panditt and Mimi Chakraborty released in theatres on November 3. It is a Hindi remake of the popular Bengali film 'Posto' directed by Nandita Roy and Shiboprosad Mukherjee. They have also helmed the Hindi one. Paresh Rawal plays a grandfather and a father. Neena Kulkarni plays his on-screen wife and both take care of their 7-year-old grandson Momoji as his parents are working in the US. Later, when the parents come back and they want their son back, it causes emotional turmoil, and friction between the parents and the grandparents as the former now want to take their son with them.
In the film, Paresh Rawal stepped into the shoes of Soumitra Chatterjee. Ahead of the release of 'Shastry Virudh Shastry’, Garima Das of Outlook India had a conversation with the 'Hera Pheri' actor where he revealed the reason for saying 'yes' to the film, his preparation for the character and more.
What was the reason for you to say 'yes' to it?
Absolutely, because of the story and because of the people who were doing it. And because of the person who had done it, Soumitra Chatterjee.
Have you watched the Bengali movie?
No, I have not and deliberately, I kept myself away from it. Because I'm a huge fan of Soumitra da and being his fan, if I see him performing this, this will be ingrained in my mind and I will not be able to do it my way. That was the conscious decision I had taken.
What was your process to approach the character and how did you prep for it?
You know these kind of people. It's not an alien character. In our society, you'll come across this kind of people, you know. The love story or the profound love shared by grandkids and grandparents is not a kind of unknown thing for us. So, I was just getting into it. And I was heavily supported by the script and the co-artists, Shiv Panditt, Mimi and the kid. The kid is a terrific kid, yeah. And moreover, the sensitive handling by the Shibo da and Nandita ji. It became very easy for me, you know.
Playing a character like this is emotional in itself. When you play such characters, do you have an emotional breakdown?
I do feel the character, but as a trained actor, I cannot break down or anything. Of course, it stays with you. It affects you very deeply. And it stays with you. Even after the shooting, it does stay with you. But as my job, I have to kind of switch on, switch off quality, I must have.
What was your takeaway from the character?
No, but the shooting was done in one go. As it is, it was very easy and we were away from Mumbai. We were shooting at Panjgini. So, it was very easy. You can remain concentrated. You can remain in the zone.
Your movie 'Aankh Micholi' is also releasing on the same date. How do you look at the clash?
I am very happy that both films are releasing at the same time. Both of them are radically different. So, in a way, they will complement each other. I'm happy because one is a solid family drama and one is a solid family entertainment.
