Hussain Dalal is an actor and screenwriter who has been a part of the Hindi film industry for more than 13 years. The man is credited for titles like Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, Brahmastra: Part One, Farzi, and Devaa. As an actor, he was recently seen in Vishal Bhardwaj’s O’Romeo with Shahid Kapoor.
In an exclusive interview with Firstpost, the actor and writer spoke at length about his collaboration with the erudite filmmaker, working with his fiercely fascinating co-star, his own journey in cinema, the obnoxious obsession with box-office numbers, and if there’s a possibility for a sequel to
_Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani_.
Edited excerpts from the interview
How would you describe
Vishal Bhardwaj as a filmmaker before we speak about the film?
I’ll tell you a story. I’m a storyteller. I’d rather not describe and tell you a story. I was 15 years old when Maqbool released. And I saw it around the time I was 16 or 17. I was doing theatre at the time. And I still do theatre, by the way. And I saw it and I thought to myself, in the world we live in, is there a person who is so artistically inclined that everyone else is just making films and making art? And it blew my mind away. Just watching Maqbool, the way it came together, I was like, this person has cast Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Pankaj Kapur, Irrfan Khan, Tabu, Piyush Mishra in the same film. And even after all that, the film is still better than everybody else.
It really created such a big impact on my life. And I know it sounds like it’s promotion. But Vishal Bhardwaj is literally my most favourite filmmaker in the world. And I was absolutely blown away by his work over the years. Be it Maqbool, be it Matru Ki Bijli Ka Mandola, be it The Blue Umbrella, be it Makdee be it Haider.
And then Kaminey and Haider, just Shahid and him were unbelievable. So, for me, I believe that in a world where everybody’s film looks like someone else’s film, especially in the last 5-6 years, the original filmmaker is still alive. The storyteller is still alive. And that really warms the cockles of my heart, as they say. Because he truly is an original artist.
How did
O’Romeo come to you?
It’s a very interesting story. Vishal sir and I have known each other a little bit over time. And Vishalji basically saw a film that I was in. It’s a festival film directed by Shujat Saudagar that has Ali Fazal and myself in the lead. It’s called The Underbug. And Vishalji had seen that film a few years ago and he had said, you know, it’s really good, I really, really like both of you. As a person, I feel very ashamed to call anyone for work. I’ve never really called anybody for work. But in 2024 when I heard he was making a story on the Mumbai gangster scene, which I love, I have written Bambai Meri Jaan so I love that world. I sent out a text to him- ‘Sir, you’re making this, so I’d love to be a part of it.’ And he just very sweetly replied and said, ‘Why don’t you test?’ I went and tested. I spoke to Mukesh Chhabra.
And a month and a half later, I get a message that says, ‘Hey, call back when you’re free.’ And it says Vishal Bhardwaj. And I was shocked. I was like, what? And I called back immediately. And he says ‘Listen, I really like your test. And will you do this character? It’s called Chotu.’ And he said I had to learn a little dance. And that I cannot become thin and had to keep my size up.
Shahid Kapoor has always delivered his best when he collaborates with Vishal Bhardwaj. How would you describe your chemistry with Shahid and his characters?
Shahid is one of the most brilliant actors of our time, I would say. I always say that Shahid Kapoor is a par excellence actor. I feel like whenever I see him, it just blows my mind in a way that, Boss, what does he bring to a character? I’ve also known Shahid for a while. We’ve been friends for a while, because I’ve also written Farzi and Devaa. And Shahid was again doing his magic. And for us, we’ve always been friends. We just have to play the era correctly so that we don’t make a mistake.
You are also a writer and a storyteller, but unfortunately what has happened is that over the last few years, we put a lot of pressure on the box-office. Do you follow box office numbers religiously or you forget them?
Look, as artists, we cannot follow the box-office. Artists cannot follow the box office. Producers, distributors can follow the box office. But if an artist chases box office, their work gets progressively worse. I won’t give an example, but we are all intelligent people. We have seen that when an artist chases box-office, their work gets worse. So, chasing it is a grave sin for an artist. Because I have seen the big successes in my life, I have not thought about anyone when I was writing. And when I have thought a lot about what the public wants, then God says to me, you don’t know anything. I feel that is a delusion, sir. It’s a peaceful story, sir. At the same time, the public needs one thing that we should pay more attention to. The public needs a good story. Actually, the public is the most genre-agnostic Indian audience.
I’ve written over 50, 60, 60, 70, 80 films and shows in the last 12 years. The Indian audience is the most genre agnostic audience in the world. Do you know that? We accept every genre of film. In the same year, we have Dhurandhar and Saiyaara that get equal love. One is about anger and nationalism and the other is about love. And in the same year Ek Deewane Ki Deewaniyat becomes a big hit. In the same year Chhaava is a big hit. So we are fundamentally a genre agnostic country. Also let me tell you, because of our lives, developing countries tend to have much smarter audiences than developed countries. So the Indian audience technically is a lot smarter, the Indian mass is a lot smarter than the American mass per se. Because they are hard working people. So the idea is to just make films. The idea is to chill out and tell stories. And I’ve not seen a film fail miserably that is trying to honestly tell a story. Big flop films are those that are dishonest. The big flop that says that it cost 500 crore, 600 crore and then it was rejected. Is that the dishonesty of the makers or the desperation to make a big number?
One of the biggest hits of your career is Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani. And Ranbir has recently said in an interview that Naina and Bunny’s story is complete. But hypothetically, do you think the story of Bunny and Naina can be taken ahead Maybe after 13 years, what they are up to.
Any story in the world can be taken ahead. But at the same time, one should not take any story ahead just because it feels like it will work. So, I’m saying, wherever life takes us, we will go. Okay. No problem.
End of Article
