MUMBAI: Bollywood actor Vivaan Shah, son of the iconic actor Naseeruddin Shah, says as an actor he is not highly ambitious, but prefers to think of himself as student of art. He treats cinema as an art form rather than the business of entertainment.
Starting his career in Bollywood with Vishal Bhardwaj's "7 Khoon Maaf", that won him a lot of applause for his performance, Vivaan was seen in films like "Happy New Year" and "Bombay Velvet", besides the recent web series, "Only For Singles".
Asked why he is not visible enough like other young actors, Vivaan told IANS: " I think the life of an actor is filled with waiting for opportunity. So I do not crib about why am I not getting the opportunity. Rather, I find my own work and keep improving my craft. I have written a novel that was published earlier this year. I have been doing theatre. I have films lined up for release, and the fact is I look at acting as an artistic pursuit rather than a means to pursue fame, money and a big number of projects."
"I do not treat cinema as business. Rather, to me it is an art form. Perhaps that is why, I don't do a lot of work but wait for the right film to come my way," explained the 29-year-old actor.
Vivaan grew up in a household where cinema and theatre are a part of life, what with parents like Naseeruddin and Ratna Pathak Shah. He looks for archival value in his works rather than the gloss of big money.
"My goal is to keep working and leave behind a filmography and bibliography that will be appreciated even 30 years from now. Since commercial success is not in my hand, I don't think too much about it," said the actor, who will soon be seen in the film titled 'Coat', where he has shared screen space with veteran actor Sanjay Mishra.
"'Coat' is an important film for me, where I play a Bihari lad. The film is directed by two young filmmakers from Bihar. I have worked with Sanjay sir in the film and have learnt so much. He is a great actor. We play 'mushahar', a Dalit community in Bihar. The film talks of the handicraft artisans of Bihar. That apart I am also doing a show for Mira Nair, called 'Suitable Boy'. These two are very interesting projects for me," he said.
Vivaan feels young actors like him should learn to be patient for the right roles.
"What we young actors have to do is to be patient and keep going. Also, one should develop an occupation... in my case, it is theatre and writing," he said.
As the film industry has changed over the past few years where commerce and art has managed to marry successfully to optimise box-office numbers and also celebrate talents that were often unnoticed earlier, is it still tough to make a mark?
"When it comes to my career, I am not ambitious. Rather, my energy goes into my artistic evolution. I think if I am going to learn more about my craft and become a good artiste, the opportunity will come along. What I am not doing is marketing myself and making my presence felt loud out there in the virtual world."
(Source-IANS)
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