Movie chakkar enters into a candid tete-a-tete with Tigmanshu "Ramadhir Singh" Dhulia

Click on the pic to view slideshow Posters of Ramadhir Singh can be seen in every nook and corner of Mumbai. Who are we talking about? Well, none other than super talented director turned actor, Tigmanshu Dhulia. Tigmanshu wore the director’s hat and wowed everyone with his movies namely, Haasil, Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster and recently, Paan Singh Tomar. And now he is making waves for his performance as Ramadhir Singh in Anurag Kashyap’s latest blockbuster, Gangs of Wasseypur. So how does it feel to see his face colouring the skyline of the maximum city, Mumbai? Says Tigmanshu smilingly, “Let me get to the root. Till a few days ago, I was not aware of this marketing gimmick as I had been abroad. On my way from the airport to my home, I was amazed to see my pics sprinkled all across the road. This got me thinking.” He continues, “Later on enquiring I found out that it was a marketing initiative of the production house. Till the film’s release, a whole lot of such endeavour has been planned. In a way it could be said that it was a post-release exercise of part one of Gangs of Wasseypur that released on 22 June and a pre-release exercise of the part 2 of the film which opens on 8 August.” What will follow, we ask, “In a few days, the posters of me will be smeared with black paint and later some protest march would follow. This will show as a follow up to my bad deeds in the film in which I play the main villain.” Gangs of Wasseypur is a story of vendetta in which Manoj Bajpai avenges the killings of his near and dear ones. Being the main villain needs a lot of acting acumen; what made him take up the role? “To tell you the fact, initially accented to the role because I had done a stint in acting 23 years ago while I was in the National School of Drama. Look, Anurag is a good friend of mine. After his casting director suggested my name, Anurag asked me if I would act in his film to which I said yes. I did so without realizing that I would have to play a vital role of a 75-years old Ramadhir Singh. I have now come to believe that the role of Ramadhir Singh was written for me.” Coming to his latest directorial venture Paan Singh Tomar, why did he decide to deal with such a complex issue? “Look, I did Bandit Queen with Shekhar Gupta as his assistant. During the shoot of the film, I learnt the intricacies of doing a dacoit film, learnt how they live, how they go about among many other things. One thing is for sure that if Bandit Queen had not to happen with me, Paan Singh Tomar too wouldn’t have happened.” And why did have to choose Irrfan Khan to play the title role? “I knew for sure that big time actors wouldn’t have given me the time. I have worked with Irrfan Khan in as many as six films. I know his psyche; he gets into the character of any given role he is assigned to play. I knew he was the only one who could deliver the goods. He compliments my character a lot.” Besides Paan Singh Tomar, which is the other medium-budget film he liked? “Kahaani” shoots Tigmanshu. “Here was a film that established Vidya Balan as an actor nay actress. But any way, one can’t draw a comparison between the two films. While Kahaani was a thriller, Paan Singh Tomar was a biopic. My film had a dual purpose, while it entertained the masses; it also exposed the character of Paan Singh Tomar.” Talking about his upcoming films, Tigmanshu says that he has just completed Sahib Bibi Aur Gangster part 2. “I am also doing a film called Milan Talkies.” Asked to give details, the director forbids by saying,” I have already signed Imran Khan for the film while I am still hunting for a heroine. Right now I can only say that it is a love story. I will come out with the details when the right time comes.” His Haasil released in 2003. What changes has he seen since then? “Well, those were the days of big budget masala films when Haasil came on the scene. Those were the days when people had got bored of action films so much so that they started deserting cinema halls. After that year, there was a total change in content after which people started returning back to cinema halls. Plexes started coming up and that gave birth to a new kind of audience.” He being from Uttarakhand, what would he want to do for his home state? “Well, to tell you frankly, I would shift the entire film industry to Uttarakhand. And why not. There are a lot of picturesque locations to shoot on plus there is lot of place to set up film cities.” He adds, “Taking the film industry there would primarily mean a lot of opportunities to local people in terms of earning good revenue. But that would also have a negative side. While people there right now are simple and straight forward, shifting the film industry there, I fear will corrupt the local people. But take it from my heart that I have always wished to have the film industry in the Hindi heartland; after all Bollywood films are in Hindi. They tried by setting up one in Noida but the exercise failed.” Would he want to make an Uttarkhandi film? “Surely why not but provided the local government provides my project enough funding,” he ends.