16 May,2011 11:11 AM IST | | Urmimala Banerjee
He's played the hero; he's played the comic, and now it's time for Arshad Warsi to play the baddie. The actor, who's sacrificed his annual vacation with wife and kids in Dallas for a shooting, talks to CS about playing villain:
Who: Arshad Warsi
What: Talks about experimenting with roles
The dark side
In Zilla Ghaziabad, I play a small town mercenary who works for the local politician. The guy is a sadist, murderer, extortionist, in short a complete baddie (smiles wickedly). I was glad when people loved my portrayal of the small-town Babban in Ishqiya, and I hope they like me this time too. I'm really kicked about the character. Another role that I am looking forward to is that of a lawyer in Jolly LLB. Both these characters are small-town people, so I need a bit of mental preparation to get into the roles.
Load sharing
While you're doing a solo hero project, you feel the heat of the film's fate. It can be quite stressful. But where multi-starrers are concerned, the pressure is shared by a group of people. I still get butterflies in my stomach before a film's release. As an actor, I am open to the idea of doing small budget films because films like that are good for everyone involved. With multi-starrers I enjoy myself a lot more and the whole process becomes easier. In fact, Sanjay (Dutt) and I now share such excellent chemistry that we manage to perfect our shots in a single take. When we were shooting for Lage Raho Munnabhai, Sanju and I used to get our shots right in five-ten minutes. This used to leave Vidya (Balan) at her wit's end (laughs out loud).
Heart rules
I've seen the highs and I've seen the lows. But I am too grounded to let fame or success affect me. People close to me say that I have remained unaffected by Bollywood trappings, and I like that. I am a normal guy, who goes to work and returns to his family. I want my kids to grow up as normal children. I want them to be respectful of people. My mom always used to tell me, being a good human being is important; the rest of what you get in life is a bonus. I keep her words in my mind and my feet on the ground.
