'People Like Umar Khalid Are..': Actor Sushant Singh on Dissent, Films & Censors

Actor Sushant Singh speaks to The Quint about dissent, politics and his films like Satya, Sehar and Jungle.

Actor Sushant Singh spoke on politics and films in an interview to The Quint

(Vibhushita Singh/The Quint)

"It would be very shallow of me to say that I have paid a price for my views. People who are in jail just because they spoke about love and unity - they are the ones paying the price. People like Khalid Saifi, Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam or Bhima Koregaon 16, they continue to pay a price".

Sushant Singh made his debut with Satya in 1998 and has been acclaimed for his performances in films like 'Legend of Bhagat Singh', 'Jungle', 'Sehar' and 'Lakshya' to name a few. His performance in 'Jungle' won him the Zee Cine Award and IIFA Award for the Best Actor in a Negative Role.

He also happens to be one of the few actors in the Hindi film industry, who doesn't hesitate to speak his mind on issues like political prisoners, communal violence, and caste atrocities.

In an interview with The Quint, Singh spoke on censorship, arbitrary arrests, acting in films like 'Sehar', 'Jungle' and 'Legend of Bhagat Singh' and how his biggest fear while shooting for 'Jungle' was getting a surprise visit from brigand Veerappan.

Here's are edited excerpts from the interview.

It's exactly 20 years since your film 'Sehar', probably the best police procedural Hindi film to have been made. How did that film happen?

'Sehar' is extremely close to my heart. I didn't realise it's been 20 years. I do remember it was July. The muhurat didn't go well because of rains and flooding, I remember that vividly.

I didn't have to struggle to get that role as such. I got a call that there's this role and this director called Kabir Kaushik.

Somehow inside me, I was more keen on the role Arshad Warsi played in the film. I had been doing negative roles for some time. I thought this would have been a variation. But I was told Arshad Warsi has already been cast and my role is that of the main antagonist. There was no dilemma for me. I am thankful that I got such a good film with such ease.

The research notes that Kabir shared with me on the incidents and the STF, I found them very, very thrilling.

Your character was based on Shri Prakash Shukla, a known gangster in East UP from the 1990s? Had you heard of him then?

I had heard of him, not very much as I'm from West UP. I had heard about him mainly from my hostel-mates from Lucknow and East UP. They used to tell us about rail mafia and coal mafia.

Was the film shot in UP?

Actually, the film was hardly shot in UP. A lot was shot in Mumbai. They did take some footage from UP. But it was mostly shot outside. For railway tracks, we went to Valsad. Even the train climax was shot in a train from Mumbai to Valsad.

Train tracks are quite important in the film...

Yes, train tracks are like a character in the film.

Arshad Warsi had said in an interview that he laments that the film should have done better than it did when it was released.

Definitely, it is such a good film. It would have been good for the director and pushed him to do more good work, not just for Arshad Warsi and me. But then, every film has its own destiny. But it has now become a cult film. People still come to me and say this is their favourite film, especially people in North India. People say that they have seen it 25 or 50 times.

One thing that stood out in the gangster characters you played in Sehar, Jungle or more recently City of Dreams is that you say a lot through silences, with very few dialogues. How difficult is this?

It was very difficult in City of Dreams. Very difficult. As an actor, I prefer having less dialogues. Words sometimes limit expressions. You can say much more without too many words. I have preferred this and luckily I have been given such roles as well. City of Dreams was difficult because that character is a psychopath. He doesn't reveal what he is thinking from his face.

In Legend of Bhagat Singh where you played Shaheed Sukhdev, your dialogue delivery was excellent. We were in Class 11 and all of us boys would try and imitate you...

Sukhdev was an extrovert person, good-natured, humourous and a very loving, kind man. I am glad I got to say those dialogues because otherwise people would have said that this actor does well only when there aren't too many dialogues. But I can act with dialogues as well.

In that film Rajkumar Santoshi deserves full credit, his visualisation, vision. It was a lovable and enjoyable process.

Sushant Singh played revolutionary Sukhdev in Legend of Bhagat Singh

(Screengrab from Legend of Bhagat Singh)

It's 25 years since Jungle this month and your character was broadly based on Veerappan. How was that experience?

The film was mostly shot in Bandipura national park, Karnataka-Tamil Nadu-Andhra Pradesh border. It was core Veerappan territory. Many of the guards had seen Veerappan and his men and used to show us where they camp. One of the guards there had even been kidnapped by Veerappan. When I asked him what he's like, the guard's answer was very simple, "Achha aadmi hai sir...But if someone provokes him, he will kill".

We were half expecting that Veerappan would turn up to see what was being made about him. A few wild elephants came but that was less scary than if Veerappan had actually come there.

Your character in 'Sehar' was obsessed with grabbing Varchasv (absolute power) but in real life you have stood against oppression in every form. Where does your politics come from?

It would be a combination of my upbringing, education and work. It happens over time and can't be attributed to one event or one factor. I firmly believe people must be free, even animals must be free. No one should have absolute power. Only those who want to oppress others, seek absolute power.

A series of incidents where I kept meeting people who taught me to fight for the rights of others and not just oneself. That's what I learnt and that's what I do.

Have you paid a price for your views?

I am surviving, I have work, a decent life and I'm not in jail.

It would be very shallow of me to say that I have paid a price for my views. People who are in jail for the last 4-5 years just because they spoke about love and unity - they are the ones paying the price. People like Khalid Saifi, Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam or Bhima Koregaon 16, they continue to pay a price. I haven't paid any price.

We are observing a trend in Bollywood that films are being made that push hate and a certain ideological agenda. How do you see this trend?

Propaganda films have always been there. But in the last 10-12 years, this has increased a lot. Any party that seeks absolute power does this and the know films are a powerful medium brainwash people, spread propaganda and divide people. People in the film industry are also businessmen, they do it for their benefit under the present scenario.

Issues like this and censorship make us realise the importance of freedom and liberal democracy. But times will change, they always change.