Arshad Warsi: Dedh Ishqiya’s Babban believes in lust,not love

Arshad Warsi’s will power has also served him in his career. A rank outsider,the actor has managed to sustain himself in the cut-throat industry for 17 years in spite of several ups and downs. A choreographer,he was cast in the leading role for his debut feature,’Tere Mere Sapne’ (1996),through a talent hunt. An aberration in those days,extensive auditioning to find new faces has come to be commonplace today.

“It’s been tough; there were times when I didn’t have any good work. I didn’t have a PR pushing my name into media. Still don’t. And I don’t believe in attending events to be seen in the company of big names,” says the actor.

Yet,the journey,the 45-year-old says,has been a fruitful one. At a time when the industry is undergoing changes,where script and character-driven films with fresh faces are threatening to tip over the star system,Arshad Warsi has managed to get his foot in the door to the ‘content-conscious club’. A case in point is his recent box-office hit,’Jolly LLB’,and,of course,Abhishek Chaubey’s ‘Ishqiya’ franchise,the latest installment of which releases on January 10.

Titled ‘Dedh Ishqiya’,it brings back the now-popular pairing of Warsi with Naseeruddin Shah as nephew and uncle respectively. ‘Ishqiya’s femme fatale Vidya Balan has been replaced by Madhuri Dixit-Nene and Huma Qureshi. Unlike ‘Ishqiya’,this film,Arshad Warsi says,has no political undertones.

“This time,the duo is headed to Lucknow. When Babban arrives there a few days after Khalujaan (Naseeruddin Shah’s character),he realises his uncle’s a changed man. He is head-over-heels in love with Begum Para (Madhuri Dixit-Nene) and becomes a poet in order to win her over,” explains the actor.

Although the story is new and does not carry forward from the first installment of the franchise,their characters,Arshad Warsi insists,remain unchanged. “They are the same two idiots. Khalujaan has found a new love and Babban is still the same crude,crass man looking for sex,” he says,adding that for his character to evolve,it would have to mature. “But the audience wouldn’t like Babban to change. He believes that lust is the one thing that can sustain a relationship because love can wear off over time. If Babban grows up and becomes wise,his character won’t be so entertaining.”

Although the film has the grungy,Uttar Pradesh setting,in Arshad Warsi’s head,it’s the Indian equivalent of a wild west buddy movie. “In the world that ‘Ishqiya’ films depict,life is ruled by the gun. Amid that you have these two men,never in agreement,yet willing to kill for one another,” he says.

Apart from the Wodehousian drama that the two men find themselves at the centre of,the one aspect that ensured Ishqiya’s success was the leading lady’s unapologetic sexuality. This,says Warsi,is taken a notch higher in the sequel. Qureshi,who is paired opposite him,plays Muniya — a friend and confidante of the Begum and also the front for all her ‘dirty work’. “The character has Babban’s sexuality and Krishna’s (Balan’s character in Ishqiya) cunningness. But in the end,like the first part,it’s a story of love and betrayal,” he says.

dipti.nagpaul@expressindia.com