Target in Sight

The actor has just spent a week in the Italian capital and the congratulatory calls and messages are still pouring in as news spreads of the film’s premiere. “I had no idea who Spinelli was when I got a call from my agent for the film. In fact,I was fortunate to bag the role,since Irrfan Khan was supposed to play my character initially. But once he backed away just days before the shooting I had no time to ponder over the offer,” adds Hussain,while sipping a hot cup of freshly brewed Italian coffee beans that he says was among the first things he bought in Rome.

The film is a political thriller set in the rural hinterlands of Purulia,West Bengal,against the backdrop of the atrocities inflicted on the tribal women in the region. Hussain portrays an urban and well-experienced photojournalist who is sent to Purulia to document the action. In his search for a golden shot,he finds a hauntingly beautiful tribal woman called Gangor (played by Priyanka Bose) breast feeding her newborn.

After paying her to photograph her breastfeeding,the harmless act spirals into a nightmare for the woman when the photo is published. The girl is ostracized by her village and subjected to all kinds of torture,especially sexual. “The movie deals with the utter and brutal insensitivity of the modern world to our tribals,” says Hussain,who spent a month in Purulia for the shoot. “My character develops a fondness for the tribal woman and returns to the village to protect her from the humiliation.”

The movie is similar to the novel with the exception of one additional character,Medha,(played by Tilottama Shome of Monsoon Wedding fame) who essays the role of a social worker. “She serves as the cinematic counterpoint sympathising with Gangor through her ordeal,” says Spinelli,over phone from Rome,who has made 10 documentaries on India canvassing political issues like the Babri Masjid demolition and even one on social activist Medha Patkar.

A visiting faculty at National School of Drama for 10 years,his alma mater,Hussain came to Delhi from Golapur,Assam,in 1990 to pursue acting and enrolled as a student there. “Naseeruddin Shah and Barry John were my gurus at the School and we had many acting exercises that sharpened my skills,” he recalls. For Spinelli’s film he had only two weeks to prepare for his role. Flipping through pages of Mahashweta Devi’s novel in between takes,he was able to empathise with the character faster. Besides,his 17-years of experience in theatre proved beneficial. “When you do not have much time to prepare for your character,you rely on whatever clues you find. The book helped a great deal,plus I listened to Spinelli’s instructions verbatim,” he says.

But films were never something he hungered for,and remained content with ad-hoc film assignments. “I was never lured by the glamour of tinsel town. Even today I am quite content with theatre,” he remarks. Hussain has been touring the world with members of the Indian Shakespeare Company,as part of the play Othello: A play in Black and White,for over a decade now.

The play was awarded at the Edinburgh Fringe First Festival in 2000. Meanwhile,Hussain is wrapping up the shoot for a villain’s character in Sriram Raghavan’s Agent Vinod . “I recently returned from Latvia after a two-month shoot,” he quips.

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