Invisible Man

So who reaches out for him? No one,he says. I ask him if he is saying this for effect. No one,he repeats. He doesnt go around asking people to write him parts,not even Rajat Kapoor,friend and compatriot ,with whom he has done a bunch of films: one of which was Mithya,in which played the lead. So what is he doing here in Delhi in this gruelling May heat,talking about filming at night and trying to rest during the day? Well,okay,a few people do reach out. Behl is one of those who fought for me. And thats why Shorey is away from home in Mumbai and wife Konkona Sen Sharma whos been having a rousing summer,what with acing her parts in Ek Thi Daayan and Goynar Baksho and his little boy,Haroun. He is,hallelujah,working. And stretching. And flying.

Industry mein dus baarah saal ho gaye,but for me it is still a question of survival, he says. His first film,Ek Chottisi Love Story 2002,was a box office dud. He then did the odd role here and there,but not till Khosla Ka Ghosla did he get that vital step-up. And then it became,he says wryly,Oh you are that guy from Khosla,why dont you do this Delhi role? So they lift you in that place,and thats all you get to do.

Shoreys situation stasis with occasional flurries is a stinging statement on the state of Bollywood today. Formulaic cinema is crumbling,and filmmakers are being forced into the new and the untested,which is largely the refuge of true actors. These films,more often than not,find it difficult to get to theatres,or if they do,then it is an apology of a release. Like it happened with Fatso,a film that Shorey had poured his self into,while acquiring,practically,a whole new self: he had to put on several kilos,and take them off. It created health issues,and the film was abandoned at release.

Then,there are the big-budget studio ventures that get distributed and seen by large numbers which have either no space for Shoreys particular skills,or in which he gets squeezed in,at best. He can get taken in,in something like an Akshay Kumar vehicle Singh Is King,only to be patted into the brickwork: Shorey knows this and like all actors trying to keep themselves going acknowledges that Singh Is Kinng was done for money not a bad thing when you have to pay the bills and visibility a very good thing when all you want is to be seen.

Let me show you the character and not me. Shorey is one of the few actors working in Bollywood today who can do this without calling attention to the effort that goes into such a thing: this being visible,this making the character your own by a throwaway quirk,a twitch,a gesture. He can make you draw a breath in,with sheer pleasure,as he did on stage a couple of years ago,with The Blue Mug,playing a troubled man burdened with his fractured thoughts and half-realised memories: there were others in that play who were very good Rajat Kapoor,Vinay Pathak and Sheeba Chaddha but Shorey was outstanding.

So when he says he is just a mediocre actor occupying the middle ground,you are tempted to raise an eyebrow. He gets that,and smiles,but does not retract. All he wants now,he tells me,is for someone,if they happen to stop off,40 or 50 years later,at an image of him digital,of course; Shorey inhabits the internet as much as he does his roles,given his constant,mostly well-observed engagement with social media networks,and wonder,who was this guy? And then be interested enough to go off and find more of him,and his work.

Meanwhile,he is happy with his khayals,and his pulao,both works in progress.