Keeping it real

Vijay Raaz

He is a man of few words and someone who doesn't enjoy media scrutiny or their questions. After much persuasion, Vijay Raaz agreed to sit down and talk about his choices, acting as a profession, and his recently released series, Murder in Mahim. Based on Jerry Pinto's book of the same name, the eight-episode series sees the actor playing a cop trying to investigate a string of LGBTQiA+ murders at Mahim station. The JioCinema series, also starring Ashutosh Rana, Shivani Raghuvanshi, and Shivaji Satam, is directed by Raj Acharya.

It was not the character graph or the script that drew Raaz to the role of Inspector Shivajirao Jende, but the people associated with the show. "If I like the people, irrespective of the story, I would give my nod," he says. He adds that his only aim has always been to portray reality rather than fake his way through the role. "I have been working in the industry for 26 years now; there's no role I haven't done. When a character comes my way, I always try to keep it real. I had a lot of fun playing Jende. It doesn't feel like acting because the character is as human as anyone else," says the actor, who believes that every human being is born as an actor. It's just that professional actors are paid. "If one cannot act, they cannot survive. I don't think society will last if one doesn't know how to act. We are all acting on this stage called life. The only difference is that professional actors get paid for it; others don't. Hence, there is nothing to learn in acting; it is like living life. Everyone has emotions, and they play on them at different stages of life. When I read the script, I understand at what time, how the character has to [react]. When I am talking to my senior, I change the tone of my dialogues. As the story progresses, my character's emotional graph keeps shifting. We are paid because we know what to do."

In a world where recognition can be fleeting, Raaz remains unperturbed, attributing his success to the audience's ever-changing affection. "Tomorrow they can love me; tomorrow they can hate me too. I don't attach weight to these things." He shares that he never viewed acting as a means to climb the ladder or hobnob with the famous. "It was all about having fun. I only think of what role I have to play. Bollywood is an entity, and I work in it. I never thought as far as how one role could affect the others. The parties, the lobbying are also something beyond me. It was never part of my life, and I never had the inclination to find out about it either."