This image was posted on Twitter by Satyadeep Misra
If you've seen
Bombay Velvet, chances are you Googled Satyadeep Misra and looked him up on IMDB after the film.
Bombay Velvet has crashed and burned at the box office but critics, while savaging the script and Anurag Kashyap's directing, reserved a high degree of praise for Satyadeep's performance as the brooding and loyal Chimman Chopra, best friend to Ranbir Kapoor's character Johnny/Balraj.
Satyadeep, who spoke to us at length about making
Bombay Velvet and life as an actor, has an origin story to rival anything that Bollywood could script - he gave up being a civil servant to be a lawyer to be an actor. The Internet might have told you this already. Here's what it won't have told you:
How did Bombay Velvet happen to you?I was shooting the pilot for a TV show on which Anurag Kashyap was the creative director. This was in February 2012 and the cast included wonderful actors like Gulshan Devaiah, Radhika Apte, Kumud Mishra, etc. Unfortunately, the pilot wasn't approved but Anurag called me once we were done with the shoot and spoke to me about
Bombay Velvet (BV) and Chimman's character for the first time. Mukesh Chhabra (who did the casting for
BV) handed me the script, I read it in one shot, and there was supposed to be some sort of an audition/look test which never took place! So strictly speaking, I bagged this role without an audition (just as well, because I think I suck at auditions!).
What attracted you to Chimman's character and how did you prepare for and inhabit the role?I was attracted to the project as a whole and I would have probably done any role in the film, just to be a part of it. The fact that I was offered Chimman's role was just icing on the cake (pretty thick icing that)! As for the physical attributes of the character, just getting into costume and stepping on that lavish
Bombay Velvet set usually did enough to get you into the body of the character. We also worked a bit on the accent, though mine wasn't supposed to be as pronounced at Ranbir Kapoor's.
Most reviewers have agreed that you are the scene-stealer in Bombay Velvet despite sharing almost all your footage with Ranbir Kapoor and having to rely on fewer dialogues to make an impact. What did it take to make this happen?I am the sort of actor that feeds off the energy of the other actors in the scene and I believe that the better the actor opposite me in a scene, the better my performance will be. And in Ranbir, I have met one of the most naturally gifted actors there is in our film industry. Quite frankly, I just reacted to what he was saying or doing in the scenes. Plus the fact that this film was shot in Sri Lanka where we spent most of our time off set together - which helped develop a really great bond between us, and that is very apparent in the film! So yeah, I'd like to thank him for helping me take my performance up a few notches. Apart from RK, a lot of credit goes to Anurag obviously. He has this knack of figuring out an actor's strengths and weaknesses very quickly and this helps him get exactly what he wants out of the actor. Interestingly, at some point early on in the shoot, he told me that he was going to take away a lot of my lines because he felt that my silences in the film would probably be a lot more effective - and just asked me to trust him; which I did! He is also the sort of director who communicates very clearly with his actors and never over directs. Plus the general comfort levels amongst the cast and Anurag (actually the entire crew!) - all helped to make the actors' job a lot easier.
What was the most difficult scene to film?From a technical point of view, obviously my last scene involving the shootout in the club was pretty hectic. We were firing real tommy guns (with blanks) which had recoil, got very hot and got jammed every once in a while. We also had these minor explosions going off in the walls (to suggest the attackers' bullets) pretty close to our faces - along with paint ball guns firing just wide of us to make it feel more real. At one point, I had 7 wires attached to squibs on my jacket, running down and out of my trousers, which were then connected to a remote control and got activated when I got shot! Hectic but super fun!
Another interesting scene was the one between Balraj (I never call him Johnny in the film!) and Chimman in the
BV dressing room just before the scuffle with the photographer. This was a new scene and we got the lines as we arrived on set that day. So we got Anurag to speak out the whole scene into a phone and just kept playing it over and over again while we got our hair and make up done, to remember the lines. I had a lot of fun that day, but given that RK had most of the lines to learn, he may have a different perspective on the matter!
In a film so full of antagonists, who is the hero? Is it Chimman?I think I read some article where the writers have actually addressed this issue a lot more eloquently than I could ever hope to! So I won't get into the question of who the hero is. However, Chimman's character definitely helps the Balraj/Johnny story move along in the direction that is intended, and a lot of people have connected with Chimman at an emotional level because in a sense, there is a lot of inherent goodness written into this character. The audience also perhaps sees Chimman as an extension of their eyes and ears. His is the voice of reason in contrast to the impulsive (and at times immature) bravado displayed by Balraj in the film. Interestingly, Chimman never kills or hurts anyone in the film until his tommy gun scene, which also happens to be his last!
What are your favourite memories from making Bombay Velvet?Far too many to write down here! Some are probably best left unwritten/unspoken altogether ;-)
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How do you respond to the criticism of the film and to Anurag Kashyap's Facebook note in which he mentioned you?The film was trying to do something new and didn't find an audience for it (or so the box office figures would suggest). However, I can say with complete certainty that every single member of the cast and crew would go through this process all over again in a heartbeat. We are all very proud of the film and stand by it and understand only too well that rejection is a huge part of an artist's life. So once everyone has suffered his/her share of disappointment on account of BV's box office outcome, we will all (including Anurag) move on to the next thing!
Your films range from dramas like No One Killed Jessica to rom-coms like Love Breakups Zindagi. What do you look for when signing a film?The story (script) must work on its own, to begin with. My character should be relevant to the story and should ideally give me scope to explore my range as an actor. And then those very important factors that aren't at all script related - i.e., who is producing the film, will it get released, will I get paid (!), is the crew experienced enough to pull it off? Of course, as you make your way up in the industry and your priorities change, this check list would get modified accordingly. There are times when you would get involved in a project purely because you like the script. You know there is no money but you trust the director and are aware of the fact that you will have more freedom to play around with your role in such a situation than you would in the typical commercial film set up.
In the four years between No One Killed Jessica and Bombay Velvet, how have you evolved as an actor? This is a question that the audience can probably answer better. I am not a trained actor so my processes always remain the same. I guess I have evolved to the extent that I am more confident of my craft; but I don't know how much of that is evident to the person watching me on screen.
This is your third career, after quitting the civil service and law. How difficult was it to decide to change careers and how hard was it to become an actor?The idea of quitting law and moving to Mumbai to become an actor bounced around in my head for about six months before I actually made up my mind. That entire process of quitting my job, finding a place to live in in Mumbai, the actual physical shift to a new city - these kept me so occupied for a period of about four to six months that the enormity of what I had done only hit me a couple of weeks after I had moved to Mumbai and was checking my bank statement online! That day was 6 years ago and it hasn't been an easy ride. That said, I still consider myself one of the luckier ones who has got better and better work coming his way as time has gone by, even though I am a complete outsider to this industry. Patience - you will need oodles of it if you want to survive here!
Is there anything you miss about the life you left behind?Cufflinks! I feel really sad that I can't wear cufflinks to work every day - which I did when I was a lawyer. And regular pay cheques, of course!
What advice would you give other young actors looking for their big role?This will sound cliched but the only way to make it here is to be noticed and liked for your individuality. Everyone has come here with very different life experiences and it is but obvious that no two paths to success can ever be the same. So my advice to actors coming to this city would be to chart your own course forward and try and work to your strengths without aping anyone's life, acting style etc. Just because you have a chiseled body and can dance like Hritik Roshan and mimic Shah Rukh Khan's dialogue delivery style won't get you a great role today.
What do actors do for fun in Bollywood?Stuff that can't be discussed on NDTV Movies. (Editor's note: Since you won't tell us Satyadeep, we'll just imagine the worst!)
After Bombay Velvet, what next?Tigers, directed by Danis Tanovic (
No Man's Land), should be out soon. It is already doing the international festival circuit and this true story stars Emraan Hashmi playing a medical representative in Pakistan.
Clean Shaven, a short film with Radhika Apte and directed by Anurag Kashyap, which deals with the issue of 'forbidden love' and has been commissioned by MTV International.
Both these films should release within the next three-four months.