Naseeruddin Shah says he moved into a hut to ‘inhabit his character’, ran away after spotting a scorpion: ‘To hell with method acting’

Naseeruddin Shah shared an anecdote from the sets of Shyam Benegal's Nishant, involving a scorpion. He also mentioned how most of the lead actors in Nishant became stars after the film's release, while he struggled to find work.

Naseeruddin Shah and Amrish Puri in a still from Nishant. (Pic: File)

Before starring in Shyam Benegal’s legendary film Manthan, whose restored version was recently screened at the ongoing Cannes Film Festival, Naseeruddin Shah featured in another critically acclaimed classic by the filmmaker, Nishant. In a recent interaction, Shah shared an interesting anecdote from the sets of Nishant, involving a black scorpion. He also mentioned how most of the lead actors in Nishant became stars after the film’s release, while he struggled to find work.

Speaking to Film Companion, Naseeruddin Shah shared how he was left scratching his head after the success of Nishant didn’t result in any work for him. He said, “Nishant performed well at the box office and everybody who starred in it became a star. Shabana Azmi was a star, Smita Patil became a star, Girish Karnad started doing lead roles, Amrish Puri started playing villain roles… everybody got work the only guy who didn’t get work was me. I got a handful of good reviews but that’s about it. I was twiddling my thumbs and thinking what did I do wrong but I was very proud of my performance in Nishant.”

Since Shah believed in method acting, he shared an anecdote from the shooting of the film in a village, where he packed his bags to live in a hut to get into the character’s skin. However, an unwanted guest cut this stay short.

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Sharing the same, he said, “We were at the village for a little over a month. We all lived there in the village, some of the cast lived in Rajkot. The central actors lived in the village and I was into the method acting thing. I thought I would live in the hut which was occupied by my character. I took my bedding and I went there. Shyam told me, ‘Don’t be mad,’ but I was committed, I wanted to become that character. But while I was spreading out my bedding, I saw this beautiful black scorpion and I packed it all up, thinking to hell with method acting I am going to stay where the other cast is staying.”

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Nishant focused on the power of the rural elite and the sexual exploitation of women during the era of feudalism in Telangana (then Hyderabad State) in the 1940s and 1950s. The film won the 1977 National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi and was selected to compete for the Palme d’Or at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival.

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