Aftab Shivdasani, who debuted in Bollywood as a child actor 40 years ago with the film 'Mr. India', was in Jaipur on Monday. Here he shared his journey in a conversation with Dainik Bhaskar. He said- 1 out of 250 children during the audition of Mr. India
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Aftab saw a lot of ups and downs throughout his career. He believes that even today he is learning something new and will continue to learn in future also. Now the music video is of 'Tanhaiyan', which has been directed by Aman Prajapat of Jaipur. Its producer is Saurabh Prajapat.
Read Aftab's full interview…
Question: What kind of song is it? What was special about it for you?
Aftab Shivdasani: This is a sad song. That's why it has a different feel. We have shot it in Jaipur itself. This is the best thing. I have an authentic look in this. I hope people will like this too. They will give us lots of love. The special thing is that I am working with its director Aman Prajapat for the second time. Earlier we had prepared a music video named Barsaat.
Question: It has been 40 years for you as a child actor and 25 years as an actor. How do you see this journey? What changes are you feeling? Aftab Shivdasani: Change definitely comes in life. Whatever experiences we have had so far. Because of that change comes. There is a lot to learn from this. So much time has passed. I still consider myself a learner. There are a lot of things I don't understand yet. I hope so while I'm here. Till then keep learning. Keep making myself better. I am busy improving myself.
Aftab arrived in Jaipur to promote his new song.
Question: Talking about the film Mr. India, what is your memory related to it, you were very young at that time, how did you come towards acting? Aftab Shivdasani: My parents knew the casting director of the film Mr. India. Who did the casting of the film at that time. That was very unique casting. There was no camera at that time. Nor was there any special audition event. We had met only Shekhar sir. He spoke with each child for about 10 minutes. Within those 10 minutes, he identified which children he had to work with.
200 to 250 children had auditioned for this film. Out of these, 10 children were selected. I was also included in those 10 children. I was 6-7 years old at that time. After that, history is witness to how the film Mr. India reached the people in the country. The credit for this success goes to all the characters, the director and the producer. I consider myself lucky that I was a small part of his experience.
Question: You made your debut with the film Mast, how do you remember that debut? Aftab Shivdasani: I believe that every person's debut is special somewhere or the other. Mast film is the most special for me. The important phase of my career i.e. second life was starting from here. I consider myself lucky that I got that kind of opportunity. I did not miss that opportunity. I gave my best. Today it has been 25 years. I have done 60 films in this journey. I will try to play even better characters.
Question: You recently said in an interview that you yourself have broken being typecast. How did you get typecast and how did you break it? Aftab Shivdasani: When I started with the film Mast, Chocolate Boy got typecast. After that he did different films like Kya Yehi Pyaar Hai, Koi Mere Dil Se Poochhe. From here I got type cast as a romantic hero. After that came comedy films. After this I started getting offered comedy roles. I was type cast. This happens with all actors. This typecast can only be broken by doing something different. Some things do not work in this experiment. Then those things are not able to break. If something goes wrong, you can break that type cast. We can only try.
Aftab was welcomed in Jaipur wearing a turban.
Question: You have seen a lot of ups and downs in this journey. What was the most difficult moment, tell us about it? Aftab Shivdasani: I believe that difficult moments happen every day. You hope that life will give you such things. You need this. Whatever you want for yourself, but life has something else in mind. It should be accepted and kept. I won't say that I faced any difficulties. This has been a learning time for me. If people also think like this then they will always be happy.
Question: You have also been an outsider. Have you suffered any loss from that also? Aftab Shivdasani: The launch I got through the film Mast was a great launch. Which happens for a big artist. Who is also called as A list artist in the industry. They get such a launch. That's why I never felt like an outsider. There were ups and downs, but no problematic matter came to the fore for me. The word 'struggle' has not yet been added to my dictionary. I believe in hard work. I am continuously working for that. When one has to move, no one can stop him.
Question: Tell us about your connection with Jaipur, you have shot two songs continuously here, you also came to an art camp with your wife? Aftab Shivdasani: Jaipur has a different specialty. It is a different kind of colour, the culture is different. You get to see a different kind of culture. Which is a feeling that comes in Rajasthan. It is going to give a different experience. One gets a royal style feel here. Be it a shooting or an event, we get a royal feel. Even if you come here on vacation. When we stay in a hotel, we get a different kind of experience here. This cannot be found anywhere else. This has been special for me.
Question: Please tell us about the child actor with whom you did your Mr. India film and under whose direction you are acting today? Aftab Shivdasani: I did Mr. India with Ahmed Khan in my childhood. Both of us were among those 10 children. Our friendship is 40 years old so it has not gone anywhere. Just like that. We were not in touch with each other for many years, but the bond is the same. The relationship is the same. We pick up from where we left off. Even today he has special memories. When I met Ahmed on the sets of Welcome to the Jungle. We were talking about the memories of Mr. India only.
Question: Tell us about your upcoming films. What kind of films will be seen in the future? Aftab Shivdasani: Comedy was not the first priority. It happened automatically. Two films are branded. These include Welcome to Jungle and Masti. Which is a different type of comedy. Welcome is a situational comedy. Masti is a naughty comedy. The remaining two films. One of them is horror. It is a thriller film. So people will be able to see my different styles.
Also read…
Aftab Shivdasani said – Acting was shown through face expression and emotion: Aman Prajapat directed the song Tanhaiyan, shot the entire song in Jaipur with Kavita Tripathi.
