Naseeruddin Shah didn’t allow Vijay Varma to enter his class, he stood outside the entire day: ‘If you try to be smart with him, you’re gone’

Naseeruddin Shah and Shabana Azmi have worked in memorable films like Nishant, Mandi, Masoom, Khandahar, Sparsh, and Pestonjee. They'll now reunite for Shekhar Kapur's Masoom: A New Generation, the sequel to his 1983 cult classic.

Shabana Azmi and Naseeruddin Shah have collaborated on over a dozen films.

Naseeruddin Shah and Shabana Azmi may not have shared screen space for 18 years now, since Rohit Roy’s segment Rice Plate in the 2007 anthology Dus Kahaniyaan. But at one point in the 1970s and 1980s, they were spending more time with each other than their respective partners — Ratna Pathak Shah and Javed Akhtar.

“There was a time when we were doing 10 films together. I used to spend more time with him than I did with Javed, and Ratna used to spend less time with him than I did. Really, it was like that,” said Shabana. She also confirmed that they’ll be reuniting after almost two decades for Shekhar Kapur’s Masoom: A New Generation, the sequel to his 1983 cult classic family drama Masoom.

Shabana and Naseeruddin Shah were the frontrunners of the parallel cinema movement in the 1970s, spearheaded by filmmakers like Shyam Benegal and Govind Nihalani. They starred together in memorable films like Benegal’s Nishant (1975) and Mandi (1983), Sai Paranjpye’s Sparsh (1980), Saeed Akhtar Mirza’s Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyun Aata Hai (1980), Mrinal Sen’s Khandahar (1984) and Genesis (1986), Gautam Ghose’s Paar (1984), Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s Khamosh (1986), Vijaya Mehta’s Pestonjee (1988), and Gulzar’s Libaas (1988).

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In a roundtable interview with The Hollywood Reporter India, Azmi lauded costume designer-turned-producer Manish Malhotra for the rare compliment Naseeruddin Shah gave to him after working in his maiden production, Viju Shah’s romantic drama Gustaakh Ishq, slated to release in cinemas on November 21. Malhotra revealed that Naseeruddin Shah messaged him to tell him he’s the one of the best producers he’s ever worked with. “I have not heard that sentence for anyone in the 50 years he’s worked with. He’s (Naseeruddin) very soft and lovely,” said Shabana.

Vijay Varma, who acted alongside Naseeruddin Shah in Gustaakh Ishq, revealed how it was always his dream to learn from the veteran actor. “I’ve been hero-worshipping him ever since I was a 20-year-old. I always wanted to work with him. I always wanted to learn under him. He had come at the film school I was studying, but before and after I was there,” said Varma.

Naseeruddin Shah was a guest faculty at the Film & Television Institute of India, from where actors like Varma has graduated. “I’d heard stories of how important his classes. So once I moved to Mumbai and found out that he’s doing a class in Pune, a friend and I enrolled ourselves. He refused to take us in, but we stood outside because he thought since we were seniors, the students would be distracted,” said Varma.

He then recalled how they waited the entire day outside the class before Naseeruddin Shah saw them and asked them to come to the class the next day. “Getting an opportunity to work with Naseeruddin Shah for two months in the winters made my life successful,” said Varma, adding, “He was meticulous. He’d catch you. If you try to be smart about it, boss you’re gone! He’s got a very sharp eye!”

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