‘There are no method actors in India’: Vipin Sharma believes Aamir Khan, Ranveer Singh’s performances in Lagaan, Padmaavat can’t be called ‘method acting’

Within the same month, we saw you play both a politician (Maharani season 4) and a politician’s aide (The Family Man season 3). Do you think about how to make your presence felt in a room full of seasoned actors like Seema Biswas, Aditya Srivastava, and Dilip Tahil?

N0t really. Because if you feel like you have to show your impact, then you’re going to manipulate your performance. Then you’re going to be the worst (laughs). I focus on what’s happening, first of all, and then what I’m doing in what’s happening. I don’t even think about the back story. Sometimes, creating a back story helps with a character, but I’ve rarely gotten the chance to do that. I should try it now possibly. It’s a good thing.

You play the right hand man to the prime minister, played by Seema Biswas. How’s she as a scene partner?

Seema is amazing, man. I know Seema from my NSD days. We did a play together a long time ago. It was some Breath play, whose Hindi version was called Kya Ye Sach Bol Raha Hai?. Seema is such a performer! The Family Man was the first time I worked with her since that play. She has a tough time with Hindi sometimes. She was shooting the night before somewhere else, so she was a bit nervous on the Family Man set. She’d be trying to say the lines before the shot, would forget, and get frustrated. But once the take happened, she was completely something else. The language didn’t mean anything. Whether it was wrong grammar or wrong Hindi, it didn’t matter because the emotions attached to it came out beautifully. She’s a wonderful actor. Have you seen Jolly LLB 3? She has no dialogues, but that last segment with her hugging the goat and crying in the court is so powerful and emotionally disturbing! She’s brilliant.

Vipin Sharma in The Family Man season 3.

Speaking of Seema, she was one of the many actors, including your Family Man co-star Manoj Bajpayee, who relocated to Mumbai in the early 1990s as part of the team that worked on Shekhar Kapur’s Bandit Queen (1994). Were you also one of them?

No, I didn’t come to Mumbai because of that. I did a film then, Krishna (1996). But I had no confidence as an actor, even after NSD. I didn’t have that inner calling. So, I quit acting but I wanted to stay close to filmmaking. I became a professional editor. Irrfan and I were very close. He told me, “Cinema badal raha hai. You should try acting again.” Maqbool (2003) had released then. But Vineet Kumar told me, “Arey bhool jao, ab actor nahi rahe ho aap.” And I realized he’s right. I hadn’t acted for 10-12 years, so how could I call myself an actor? So, instead of just doing a workshop, I did a 30-week course on Meisner’s technique before coming back to acting.

You returned with your breakthrough role, Aamir Khan’s seminal 2007 coming-of-age film Taare Zameen Par. What shifted within you as an actor on that set?

That training is very powerful in the sense that it makes you feel present in the moment. That was a great lesson for me. When I learnt that, my insecurities and nervousness vanished. I just realized I have to be present, listen to what’s happening, and be the person you’re asked to become.

Vipin Sharma in Taare Zameen Par.

What do you think the Meisner’s technique gave you that NSD couldn’t?

One major difference is there’s a lot of emphasis on the actor’s internal process. We lack that because our history is Parsi theatre, folk forms, larger than life, and a lot of melodrama. So, most of our approach to characters is very external. We pick up mannerisms. There, it’s more of soul-searching. Now, a lot of new actors have studied in New York and London, and are bringing it back to India. To be honest, there’s not even a method actor in India. It’s not possible. It’s not like we don’t have the actors who can do that, but we don’t have the process. It’s a completely different ballgame. It takes time. You can’t do method acting in a month. A lot of actors in the West go through that process for a year.

But there’s a perception that Aamir is a method actor. Would you say he’s not?

It’s a very wrongly used word. Everybody has a method. So that doesn’t make everyone a method actor. Aamir has a great method of creating a character. I remember when he was asked about Lagaan, he said he stood evenly on both his feet, like you see in the poster. Because it was about finding your own ground, finding your own independence. That’s a beautiful thing. But that can’t be called a method. So, there’s a bit of confusion. Eddie Redmayne won an Oscar for playing a woman in The Danish Girl (2015). He took one year for that! He became something else.

Aamir Khan in a still from Lagaan.

Ranveer Singh said he went method on Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s 2018 blockbuster period drama Padmaavat to play Alauddin Khilji. So much so that he couldn’t escape those dungeons long after the shoot got over. Is that also not method acting?

I don’t exactly what happened there. Unfortunately, I don’t remember the name but there’s a Hollywood actor who played an alcoholic musician. He went into those footsteps and had to go to rehab after the shoot. Compare this to that. So, there’s a misconception. I’d call it the impact of a film. Manoj was telling me one day that when he did Gali Guleiyan (2017) in Old Delhi, he just walked into some street and sat down there because he was lost. So, that’s the impact of a character. It’s more of that than method acting.

Ranveer Singh as Alauddin Khilji in Padmaavat

Coming back to Taare Zameen Par, how was Aamir as a director?

He was brilliant. He used to joke sometimes that since he’s an actor, he’s on our side. So, we felt very protected. He was very generous and open-minded. I never felt any pressure from him. I wish he directs another film and I get to work in it.

Your portrayal of the stern dad is one for the books. But would you play that character differently today?

Well, when I look at that film, I feel my performance is a bit stiff. Maybe that works for the character because he’s bit of a tough guy that way. But I’ll try to make him more relaxed. The extremes work for that film, so I don’t know if I can play him differently. Because the power of that character is in that zone. You can’t bring him out to anywhere else.

Do you think feeling too present in a scene has also cost you something?

There was an audition I did in which I had to feel for a friend who gets burnt alive. There was no script. They’d asked me to improvise, so I started crying. They thought there was something wrong with me (laughs). But I don’t consider it as a limitation. The limitation is of people who look at acting in a very weird way. They can’t appreciate what an actor is trying to give you. They’re not present. Also, it’s about simple courtesy. If they were so worried about me, they should’ve asked me if I’m okay instead of never calling me back. That means their agenda was something else.

You’ve worked with Manoj Bajpayee on not only The Family Man, but also as part of the workshop you did leading up to Anurag Kashyap’s 2012 cult gangster drama Gangs of Wasseypur. What do you think makes him stand out as an actor?

I’ve known Manoj for the longest time. He’s been a very hardworking guy, right from our Delhi days. When we worked together on Bhaiyya Ji last year, I reached the location very late in the night. At about 6 am, I heard someone walking across the corridor. I walked out and saw that it was Manoj because he had some knee issue which he wanted to fix by walking at 6 am. That’s a sign of a hardworking actor. I really learn a lot from him, even his eating habits and the way he takes care of himself. Everything is a result of that.

You also had a memorable scene in Gangs of Wasseypur, where you were chased by Pankaj Tripathi holding a slipper. How was that like?

I remember we were out of breath by the end of it. At times, he actually hit me with the chappal. When I say in the scene, “Lag raha hai, lag raha hai,” that’s real actually (laughs).

So, you can’t call even that method acting?

No no, it’s the impact of the chappal (laughs).

Vipin Sharma and Pankaj Tripathi in Gangs of Wasseypur.

After the success of films like Taare Zameen Par and Gangs of Wasseypur, would it be right to say you never had to look back?

I did feel negative at times that nothing is happening. It’s a bit of a tough zone. I wrote during that time. Sudhir Mishra gave me that very right advice since I was getting frustrated sitting at home. So, I worked on two scripts. I’m in talks with a producer for one of them. I’ll be acting in it as well as directing it.

Is it tough to act and direct at the same time?

Guess I’ll find out (laughs). But I’ll keep someone with me who’ll look at me very closely.

You’ve said that Irrfan Khan still comes in your dreams. What are these dreams like?

Once I dreamt we were eating something. The taste of what we were eating was so delicious. I still have a memory of that taste. Most of the dreams are great feelings, something very beautiful and pleasant. His sense of humour was crazy. I was there when his first chemo had happened in London. He had a mini fridge packed with food. He was looking into it and saying, “Yaar inko lag raha hoga main natak kar raha hu. Kitna toh kha raha hu main yahan pe” (laughs). He was still reading Rumi at that time and talking about spirituality.

Since Tigmanshu Dhulia was also your NSD batchmate, did working with him and Irrfan on Paan Singh Tomar (2012) feel like going back to drama school?

It kind of did. The first day I was there on the set, we were shooting the scene where I send Irrfan the ice-cream. The shoot was going on outside. I came and met Tishu, who was sitting inside at the monitor. He showed me the scene and said, “Ye dekh ro dia tere liye.”

How was it doing comedy with Kapil Sharma recently in Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon 2? 

I had a great time! Kapil and I bonded really well. I hadn’t realized doing comedy sets you free so much. On other sets, the atmosphere is also very serious. You’re focusing more on the lines. I hope I can do more comedy.

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One of your most enduring shots of you is in the climax of Aanand L Rai’s 2013 romantic drama Raanjhanaa, when you sob while eating upon learning about the death of your son Kundan, played by Dhanush. How did you crack that expression?

I was very worried about that scene because there was no bonding scene between me and Dhanush before that. I couldn’t anchor myself on anything. So I didn’t know what to do. I told my makeup man, “Bhaag ja! Mujhe dikhna mat.” I didn’t want to use glycerine. I told Aanand sir I’d put a lot of chilli in my food so that I cry automatically (laughs). When they were setting up the shot, he just held my hand. I felt a beautiful softness in his hands that did something to me. When the camera rolled, I started bawling. I don’t know what happened.