Filmmaker Aditya Kripalani has teamed up with Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Chitrangada Satarupa for the film ‘I’m Not An Actor’, also called ‘Main Actor Nahin Hoon’. The movie has been receiving accolades even before its release in India. It recently won awards at the DC South Asian Film Festival, with Chitrangada bagging Best Actress and Kripalani taking home the Best Director (jury mention). Earlier, Nawazuddin won the Best Actor award at the New York Indian Film Festival.
In an exclusive interview with News24, Aditya Kripalani talks about his experience of working with Nawazuddin, Chitrangada, budget issues while making ‘I’m Not An Actor’, how he shot the film via video calls and much more.
Aditya reveals that Nawazuddin didn’t charge any fee to work in ‘I’m Not An Actor’. Praising the actor, he says, “The budget constraints are real, but what kept me going on this project was Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s generosity – he didn’t take any money for the film. We took a bank loan to make it, inspired by his willingness to contribute. Despite limited budgets, we’ve managed to make films that look like they have a much larger budget. Even with Nawazuddin Siddiqui, the film looks like a proper Hollywood film, not an expensive one by Bollywood standards.”
He talks about Nawazuddin’s impeccable performance and shares reveals he is very subtle in his acting. The filmmaker adds, “I realised that many filmmakers would not realise how good an actor he is because he is very subtle. You have to spend a lot of time with actors and thinking about performance, and actors and their life and the work to even catch Nawaz’s greatness. It takes time to understand and appreciate his craft. For me, it took a couple of days to realise just how good an actor he is. He’s years into his craft, and his love for acting shows in his work.”
For the unversed, ‘I’m Not An Actor’ was shot in a first-of-its-kind way across two countries, with actors performing in real-time via video calls.
Talking about his experience and the challenges he anticipated, he says, “The challenges I anticipated before we started were mainly about keeping the emotions real. However, I realised that both actors are very good, so I didn’t have to worry about that. My focus was on creating an environment that felt real to them. We shot it live, with the video calls on, and they were seeing each other in every take, hearing each other’s lines. I could make small changes in the lines from one side, and the other person would be surprised, which added to the authenticity of their reactions.”
He also describes how his method of bringing his authencity in the performances of Chitraganda and Nawazuddin. “I didn’t have to guide them directly. My approach was to change the stimulus around them. A good actor reacts and feels; you have to help create that feeling by providing the right stimulus. Instead of telling Chitrangada to look more irritated, I would ask my AD to add more weight to her bag or make her clothes warmer, so she feels the discomfort. This approach helps the actors react naturally, without needing to be told exactly what to do,” he explains.
‘I’m Not An Actor’ was shot across two countries over a span of 28 days. Both the actors performed in real-time via live video calls, with simultaneous shoots taking place in different time zones and contrasting climates.
