Learning to let it go

Saqib Saleem’s young co-actors in Hawaa Hawaai make him realise the importance of following one’s instincts.

Saleem plays a skating coach to a bunch of children in Hawaa Hawaai.

After he signed Hawaa Hawaai, Saqib Saleem’s biggest concern was that most of his co-actors were children. A skating coach to a bunch of youngsters between the age group of five and 20, the actor knew his discomfort around children might show if he didn’t make friends with them. “I was scared about how the children would react to me. I knew that if they didn’t like me in the first go, they wouldn’t like me ever, which will come through in the film. So, I made a conscious effort to break the ice with them and be like an elder brother, and not an actor, around them,” says Saleem.

Saleem would reach the set an hour early and spend that time bonding with the children. And his idea worked. In the film’s promos, the 26-year-old seems

effortless around them, especially Partho Gupte, who is in a key role alongside Saleem. The film is a tale of an underdog where a young boy, played by Partho, is picked and trained by Saleem’s character to compete in the national-level inline skating competition.

Directed by Amole Gupte, Hawaa Hawaai is Saleem’s fourth film. The actor from Delhi made his debut in Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge in 2011, following it up with Mere Dad Ki Maruti last year — both produced by Yash Raj Films’ off-shoot for youth-oriented movies, Y-Films. The characters he played in these films became a crucial factor in his decision to sign Hawaa Hawaai. “I have up till now played young, urban characters who have been up to some mischief and have a one-line ready for everything. But in India, an actor in comic space isn’t taken seriously. I realised this when I played a homosexual character in Karan Johar’s short film for Bombay Talkies — everyone noticed my performance. So it was a conscious decision to explore my versatility with Hawaa Hawaai,” says Saleem.

In the film, his character is one of a mentor. Otherwise uninhibited, Saleem made the effort to play a mature and somewhat-brooding young coach. He also had to brush up his skating skills from school days as well as acquaint himself with the theory of the sport. “But my interaction with two skating coaches helped me understand the body language of my character. Small things, like the fact that a coach will keep his eyes not on the student but on his feet to track his performance, made all the difference,” says Saleem.

In the end, it was the children he was acting with who taught him the most important lesson: of letting go. During the shoot, Amole had established a norm that the children would always finish shooting first so they could go home in time to finish their homework and get a good night’s sleep. But one day, they decided to start with Saleem on a scene he shared with a five-year-old girl, the youngest on the set.
“Somehow, it took me seven takes to nail my shot and when the camera turned to the little girl, she delivered the perfect shot in the first go. I was so embarrassed at first, but then I realised that as we grow older, we keep adding unnecessary pressures of competition and performance. From the little girl, I learnt that if I don’t let anything weigh heavy on my head and go with my instincts, it will help me become a better performer.”
dipti.nagpaul@expressindia.com

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