The Italian Job

The actor has just returned after a week in the Italian capital and the congratulatory calls and messages are still pouring in. “I had no idea who Spinelli was when I got my agent’s call for the film. In fact,I was fortunate to bag the role,since Irrfan Khan was supposed to play my character initially,” adds Hussain,sipping on a hot cup of freshly brewed Italian coffee.

The film is a political thriller set in the hinterlands of Purulia,West Bengal,against the backdrop of the atrocities inflicted on the tribal women in the region. Hussain portrays the role of the photojournalist Upin,who is sent to Purulia to document the action. In his search for a golden shot,he finds a hauntingly beautiful tribal woman,‘Gangor’ (played by Priyanka Bose) feeding her newborn child. 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 ostracised by her village and subjected to all kinds of torture,especially sexual. “The movie deals with the 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,” he adds.

The movie is similar to the novel with the exception of one additional character,Medha,(played by Tilottama Shome) 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. An Indophile,he has made 10 documentaries on India canvassing political issues like the Babri Masjid demolition and on social activist Medha Patkar.

A visiting faculty member at his alma mater National School of Drama for 10 years,Hussain came to Delhi from Golapur,Assam in 1990 to pursue acting. “Naseeruddin Shah and Barry John were my gurus at NSD,” he recalls. For Spinelli’s film,he had only two weeks to prepare. He referred to Devi’s novel,besides drawing from his 17-years of theatre experience to play the role.

But films are still not a priority for him. “I was never lured by the glamour of tinsel town. Even today I am quite content with theatre,” says the actor,who 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. He is also busy wrapping up a shoot for Sriram Raghavan’s Agent Vinod. “I recently returned from Latvia after a two-month shoot,” he reveals.