First Look: The Coffin Maker

The Coffin Maker is a life changing film. It represents cinema that inspires! Set against the authentic and seductive spirit of a Goan Village, Coffin Maker is a poignant tale about a reluctant Coffin Maker who learns about life from a very unusual and mysterious sour. The film is produced by Bharat & Ambika Vijan's Shree Narayan Studio Pvt. Ltd. and directed by Veena Bakshi.

The Coffin Maker exemplifies the genius and the exceptional talent of Naseeruddin Shah yet again.

Randeep Hooda looking very dapper and handsome,more like a charming Hollywood hero, in the best performance of his life with his real life mentor Nasseruddin Shah. It's a constant battle of wits between the two protagonists in a mental game that transports the inspirational film to a very different level.

Ratna Pathak Shah plays Naseeruddin's catholic wife Isabella that will surely charm the audience yet again.

Says Producer Bharat Vijan, Shree Narayan Studio I am just so overwhelmed to have Nasser saab in my debut film as a producer in Bollywood and such a brilliant cast of Randeep, Ratna,Benjamin, Amit,Mahabanoo. Coffin Maker is captivating and elevating cinema with the beauty of hope, love and the human spirit set against the Goan background.

It is a part of Entertaining cinema that inspires, and I genuinely hope that all Indians will watch it and get inspired.

It will make Indian cinema proud in the world stage. Even the music of Bapi-Tutul and songs by Hema Sardesai captures the essence and the sunshine spirit of Goa. Coffin Maker represents the blueprint of dealing with life in an entertaining way. Watch it!

The Post-Production of the film was recently completed and the movie is about to hit cinemas soon.

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Naseeruddin visits his past

20 years after 'Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa', Naseeruddin Shah shoots for another film at a Gorai church 

It must have been a feeling of deja vu for Naseeruddin Shah recently when he shot for an upcoming film at a church in the suburban Gorai beach. The visit took Naseer down memory lane as he reminisced about having shot at the same location for another film 20 years ago. 

Thespian had filmed a sequence for Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa at Uttan church in 1992. And for his upcoming revenge-drama, the veteran actor has shot for a scene in the same church. However, the difference is that he played a peace-loving priest in Kundan Shah's romantic comedy starring Shah Rukh Khan and here, he plays an angry old man seeking vengeance in the film directed by debutant Ahishor Solomon.
Interestingly, none of the crew members noticed the similarity in venue until Naseeruddin pointed it out himself. The production crew did not know that they were setting the scene in the same church but were surprised to know that Naseer saab had shot there 20 years ago.

It brought nostalgia on the sets. To make things intriguing, both the films have their opening scenes shot in this very church,  informs an industry source.

Co-producer Anjum Rizvi says it's just a matter of delightful coincidence, We didn't know that it was the same church where Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa was shot. We learned this later and it is just a co-incidence that our production house booked the quiet location for the scene.

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My sons should come up on their merit

The actor says both his sons - Imaad and Vivaan - will have to find their feet in the film industry on their own 

In Bollywood, it's a common practice amongst established names to help launch their young ones. But Naseeruddin Shah is not one of them. The veteran actor believes that his children must go through the predictable grind to make a place for themselves in the crowd. 

Naseeruddin, who recently announced that he's taking a sabbatical from films, has whole-heartedly shifted his attention to his first love: theatre. Interestingly, all his kids are also active on the stage but also dabble in cinema. 
On being asked about his thoughts on his kids following his footsteps, the 62-year-old states, I'm glad that they are doing something which is very close to my heart. It wasn't me who goaded them to take this path. They chose it on their own so I'm proud of them. But I can tell you from my experience that camera is a cruel friend. It either likes you or it doesn't.

The thespian's elder son Imaad, who has acted in several films, will next be seen in Mira Nair's upcoming international project as well as Q's (Qaushiq Mukherjee of Gandu fame) Bengali film. He is an aspiring musician too. Vivaan, who received critical appreciation for his work in 7 Khoon Maaf, is yet to start with his second film.
He was slated to co-star Priyanka Chopra once again in Vishal Bhardwaj's forthcoming project but the plan is yet to take off. However, the 22-year-old is taking part in stage shows on a regular basis. 

So exactly why doesn't Naseersaab go ahead and launch his kids? Well, it's a matter of principle. `Unlike others, I wouldn't launch them because firstly, I don't have the money required to do so and secondly, even if I had, I wouldn't. They should come up on the merit of their calibre. There are things you learn the hard way as an actor!

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Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah will be seen doing some action stunts for his new film "John Day". The film will see the 62-year-old performing a lot of chase and fight sequences after 14 years. He was last seen performing stunts in 1998 film "China Gate". Directed by debutant Ahishor Solomon and produced by Anjum Rizvi along with K. Asif, "John Day" has an ensemble cast of Randeep Hooda, Shernaz Patel, Sharat Saxena and Vipin Sharma.

Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah will be seen doing some action stunts for his new film "John Day".

The film will see the 62-year-old performing a lot of chase and fight sequences after 14 years. He was last seen performing stunts in 1998 film "China Gate".

Directed by debutant Ahishor Solomon and produced by Anjum Rizvi along with K. Asif, "John Day" has an ensemble cast of Randeep Hooda, Shernaz Patel, Sharat Saxena and Vipin Sharma.

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Naseeruddin Shah in Pakistan

Indian actor Naseeruddin Shah has arrived in Lahore to participate in a programme, a media report said Thursday.

Shah along with his family Wednesday arrived in Lahore, reported the News International.

"Why would I come to Pakistan if I had no 'Aman ki Asha' (desire for peace)?" Shah told the media outside the Allama Iqbal International Airport.

He said that he would stay in Pakistan for a week and would perform in a programme scheduled to be held in Lahore Dec 1 and 2. The news report did not elaborate on the type of programme.

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I can barely tell one actress from another: Naseeruddin Shah

The versatile actor talks about why acting in films is a 'soul-destroying' job and taking carpentry lessons at the age of 62

It's surprising that Naseeruddin Shah's sounds fed up of the Hindi film industry considering the fact that he's one of the most accomplished actors in the country. As of now, he is back to his first love: theatre. 

Over the past weekend, he narrated short stories at the recently concluded literary festival in the city along with younger son Vivaan on the stage. In a candid chat backstage, Naseer saab shares his thoughts on cinema, his favourite actors and more...

Is it true that you've quit acting for good?
Quitting is not the correct word. What would I do with myself if I don't act for a living? Just that I'm a bit fatigued working in front of the camera. It's a very soul- destroying job. Besides, if it weren't for the money and fame, nobody on earth would do it. At the moment, I'm enjoying theatre far more.

And what else is going on other than theatre?
I'm busy learning new stuff. Once you hit 60, you've got to try out newer things to stave off Alzheimer's. So I'm also learning Urdu - I know how to speak but I'm learning how to read and write as well - along with carpentry!
Will you get back to directing films?
No. I'm not cut out for that. I tried it once with Yun Hota To Kya Hota but I failed miserably. Moreover, I couldn't assert myself as a filmmaker. Perhaps I took it way too cavalierly. Fortunately, I realised that the attitude I have towards acting will not necessarily work with directing. 

Would you call yourself media-shy?
I find giving interviews very boring because you're expected to talk about yourself and to me that's not the most interesting subject. I instead love talking about acting just like the media loves asking you how you feel - whether someone has died or someone is getting married. They just want to know how you feel!

Your film Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro re-released recently. Are you fond of remakes?
No, not at all. They are remaking some films that shouldn't have been made in the first place. Take Agneepath, for example. It's a piece of crap that could have been easily avoided.
Finally, the actors you like...
I feel Irrfan, Manoj Bajpai and Arshad Warsi are the three finest actors. Boman (Irani) is great too. Among the younger lot, I think Ranbir is promising. He seems like he knows what he's doing. Among the girls, I'm afraid I can barely tell one from the other.

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Movie Review: Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron remains a crazy film

Starring Naseerudin Shah, Ravi Baswani, Bhakti Bharve, Pankaj Kapoor, Satish Shah

It was the year before Mrs India Gandhi was assassinated. The nation was not in the best of moods. There were raised voices and frayed tempers prevalent across the nation as corruption and intolerance reached an all-time high. Given the milieu Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron (JBDY) chose to laugh away the bruise...

There is a sharp zaniness about JBDY which serves as a scathing antidote to the growing sense of collective dismay that the nation faced as extremism and inflation hit the nation hurling it towards damnation. 

Many regard JBDY as the funniest Hindi film ever made. I am not too sure. I sense of deep somberness behind the giggles and guffaws. The plot about two out-of-work photographers named, hold your legal notices, Vinod Chopra (Naseruddin Shah) and Sudhir Mishra (Ravi Baswani) has episodes of acute hilarity and interludes of absolute anarchy. 

You know from the faustian flavour, the Shakespearean fervour and frenetic pacing, that there was an abundance of improvisation on the sets. You also know as you watch the film's newly-restored edition, that the film was made on a shoe-string budget which afforded meager finesse, and practically no re-takes. Nope. Nothing can restore the frugality, austerity and begging-bowl crisis that the film had to face. 

The actors had to literally survive by their instincts which could only take the narration this far and no further. Frequently the gags run out of steam and you can see the actors groping in a creative darkness to emerge with flashes of genuine inspiration. 

There are too many references and cross-references to politicians and scams. If you weren't born back then when the film was first released, you are doomed. 
The nexus between politics and journalism is brought out through a character named Shobha Sen (Bhakti Bharve) a hard-nosed newspaper editor who uses our two heroes to get an expose on a builder named Tarneja (Pankaj Kapoor) and his murky collaboration with a municipal officer named d'Mello (Satish Shah). 

D'Mello soon ends up as a corpse in a traveling coffin that leaves us chortling heartily or coughing uneasily, depending on how far we are willing to accept the opulent oeuvre of the outlandish and the outrageous that the film throws forward. 

In one sequence we see the dead-drunk builder Ahuja (Om Puri) driving into the coffin carrying the dead d'Mello thinking it's another vehicle. The sequence is funny only if you are hellbent on enjoying the goofiness of a grand high-school reunion fete bringing together grownup professionals who decide to `have fun` for one evening even if some of their actions make them look downright silly. 

Check out the sequence where a time bomb is planted by Tarneja and his moronic assistant (Satish Kaushik) under the chairs of Bhakti Bharve, Naseer and Baswani...Or the episode where Naseer and Kaushik speak on the phone to each other in the same room. The humour is so slapstick you laugh in sheer embarrassment. 

In JDBY everyone is out to have fun. It's a very boys kind of nudge-nudge-wink-wink fun where the brunt of the joke is the system that fosters and encourages corruption on every level. The characters discuss malpractices without shame or purdah. The cast is mainly masculine. The two women in the cast Bhakti Bharve and Neena Gupta behave like the boys. 

Bharve's hard-nosed journalist's act is astonishingly unladylike for those times. She uses her `charms` (which are entirely a subjective matter since she doesn't appear overly seductive in any sense) to outwit her male adversaries and to make Vinod Chopra (Naseer) putty in her hands. 

In the end when Sudhir and Vinod are framed for scams which they had set out to expose Shobha Sen walks away from the duo leaving them to face the music. There is a unmentionable 'b' word for such exploitative women. 
Among its many pioneering achievements-and that includes the legitimizing of goofy comedy as political satire-is the use of the inspirational song Hum honge kaamyaab, a desi rendering of the song 'We shall Overcome', a protest song conceived for the African-American Civil Rights Movement. It went on to acquire a renewed popularity through its ironic usage in Kundan Shah's film. 

To this day Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron remains a crazy film, filled with madcap situations straight out of comedies from the Silent Era with a corpse rolling down Mumbai's highways and time-bomb's planted to kill the `good` blowing up in evil faces. The message is loud and clear: farce can fight a moral-political fascism. 

Characters talk incessantly either about corruption or about being corrupt. We can see the downslide in the moral values in Indian politics and bureaucracy was already happening in a major way. Yes, Amitabh Bachchan had much reason to be angry. 

The Big B's anti-establishment film Andha Kanoon rubbed shoulders with Govind Nihalani's Ardh Satya during the same year that Kundan Shah's comedy of 'eras' made an impact. 

Significantly this was also the year when the pre-Bachchan superstar Rajesh Khanna had his last spate of hits-Avtaar, Souten and Agar Tum Na Hote. Romance in cinema was dying. The angry brand of heroism was being favoured. Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron is also an angry film. But the wrath of the common man is here seen in a mirthful mood. Laugher is taken to be the best medicine to fight injustice. 

The film's rightly celebrated climactic confusion on stage where the film's characters mingle with the characters from the Mahabharat to create a poetic panic and anarchy served well as a metaphor for the tangle that the country had created in its socio-political system months before Mrs Gandhi was killed. 
Trivia:

Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron was made at a meager budget. Naseeruddin Shah was the highest paid actor in the team. The budget was so low that the actors could not be served tea on location. 

Bhakti Bharve who played the ruthless scheming magazine editor is the wife of the late actor Shafi Inaamdar. Her character was partly based on Shobha De. 

Satish Shah had to play the dead character D'Mello in a coffin. Many regard his role to be the toughest role of the film. 

The climax where a staging of the Mahabharat is disrupted by the characters in the film has been used in any number of subsequent films, the most recent being Rumi Jaffrey's Gali Gali Mein Chor Hai. 

Naseeruddin Shah was named after filmmakers Vinod Chopra, and Ravi Baswani after filmmaker Sudhir Mishra. 

Both Chopra and Mishra were married at certain points in time to Renu Saluja who edited this film. 

Vinod Chopra appeared as one of the characters in the stage version of the Mahabharat in Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron. 

At the start of the film Kundan Shah is mentioned as one of the guests who are expected to attend the inauguration of Naseer and Baswani's photo-studio. 

The park where Naseer and Ravi Baswani find d'Mello (Satish Shah) was named after one of Kundan Shah's favourite filmmakers Michelangelo Antonioni

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Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro very relevant today: Naseeruddin Shah

Naseeruddin Shah, who played a common man in the 1983 cult classic "Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro", believes the re-release of the movie couldn't be better timed, considering the country's current state.

"I think it is extremely relevant (to release it now) and probably will always stay relevant because I don't think that this monsoon of corruption will ever go away, no matter how hard we try," the 62-year-old said here at a special screening of the film.

"But people are more aware of this phenomenon now, it disturbs them much more... So, I am feeling that this film will still strike a nerve," he added.

A digitally restored version of "Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro" will be released Friday all across India exclusively at PVR Cinemas.

Directed by Kundan Shah, the satirical comedy portrayed the plight of a corrupt country and a common man's suffering as a result of it.

Naseeruddin says the satire in Indian films has now become stagnant.

"There has been no growth at all in satire. I find it very difficult to think of another film after 'Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro' which has been satirical in nature. I can't think of any, in fact, with the exception of 'Munna Bhai' films, which were wonderful," Naseeruddin said.

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Only documentaries reflect the truth: Naseeruddin Shah

Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah, who has been in the Hindi film industry for over three decades, believes documentaries are essential as they are the only form of cinema which depict facts as they are.

"I think documentaries are very important because they can present the picture of life as it is without any dramatisation, without any elaboration. They are the only form of cinema which can be truthful in their presentation," the 62-year-old said here.

"Films which tell stories always have a tendency to lapse into fantasy, which is why I believe that the form of documentary is more significant in the long run than film making," he added.

He spoke on the sidelines of the DVD launch of "Bombay: Our City" and "War and Peace" by acclaimed documentary filmmaker Anand Patwardhan here Wednesday.

Naseeruddin feels sad about the depreciating number of documentaries being made nowadays.

"It's a pity that so few people are making documentaries on subjects of importance and that's why I admire Anand Patwardhan's work so much that he does; makes films on issues which matter to him," Naseeruddin said.

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Naseeruddin Shah praises Aamir Bashir's film Harud

Naseeruddin Shah recently watched Aamir Bashir's Harud and he was all praise for the independent film

The veteran actor was heard saying after the film's screening at a suburban multiplex, In India, our so called meaningful films often seem shallow because they are about borrowed pains.

Seldom does something as deeply felt and skillfully made as this film come our way. We should be grateful for small mercies. Point noted, sir.

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I wouldn't use such a derogatory term for Naseeruddin Shah

Randeep Hooda talks about his long perceived attitude problem, Naseeruddin Shah and his greed for good work 

More than a decade ago, Randeep Hooda made his debut in Monsoon Wedding. He shared screen space with Naseeruddin Shah in the very first shot of his film career.

Since then, the two have been associated with each other thanks to their collective interest in theatre. Presently, they are working together in their third film (their second film never got completed).

Needless to mention, Randeep is thrilled to be back with his guide. In a tete-a-tete, the 35-year-old actor refused to comment on his personal life but sets the record straight on a lot of other stuff.

Would you call Naseer your godfather in the industry?
Nope. I wouldn't use such a 'derogatory' term for him.

So what does he mean to you?
Well, he's my mentor, friend and confidant. He's an inspiration and somebody who has helped nurtured me as an actor not necessarily my career but my craft. He's also the one who opened my eyes to the world of acting.
Speaking of acting, do you think you've arrived?
In terms of my acting, yes, I'm definitely having my best phase ever. But I wouldn't like to rest on the laurels as of now. I've got bigger dreams.

Then, what was your worst acting phase?
If you remember, that wasn't very long ago. I was without any major work for more than two years! I was completely hopeless at that point of my career. And then I was even hesitant to play a negative role. Fortunately, filmmakers like Milan (Luthria) and Tigmanshu (Dhulia) walked along and showed faith in me.

Why did you agree for the cameo in Cocktail?
Homi (Adajania) is a friend and I guess I found something in that role. To me, it was unique so I don't have any regrets, whatsoever.

Do you consider yourself as a part of Bhatt camp now?
I'd rather not be part of any camp. I'm just greedy for good work. As long as the association is mutually beneficial, it's a win-win situation. At least, that's what I hope for.

Do you think you're a changed man now given the earlier reports that you had an attitude problem?
All I can say is I've changed the way I express. Earlier, people perceived me as an explosive Jat boy and had a calculated approach. As a result, most of the stories got blown out of proportion. Now, I'm a bit more careful.
You're quite active in horse riding. How do you manage the time for it?
If you love something dearly, you'll find the time for it. Anyhow. Besides, my horses are my solace from this mad, mad world of films.

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Naseeruddin Shah turns a year older

Actor Nasseruddin Shah, who straddled both the worlds of mainstream and parallel cinema for decades, turned 62 on Friday.

Shah was born in Uttar Pradesh in the year 1950 and graduated from National School of Drama in Delhi.

One of the finest actors of the industry, Naseeruddin Shah, received the Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan awards from the Government of India, for his outstanding contribution to Indian cinema.

Shah starred in films like ‘Mirch Masala’, ‘Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro’, ‘Masoom’, ‘Ijaazat’, ‘A Wednesday’, ‘The Dirty Picture’, ‘7 Khoon Maaf’ and others.

His international projects include ‘Monsoon Wedding’ (2001) and ‘The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen’ (2003), where he shared his screen space with Hollywood actor Sean Connery.

Best known for art cinema, the actor has been successful in commercial films also. He is one of the few actors of the industry, who performs with equal elan in both art cinema and commercial cinema.

The actor has won three National Awards for films like ‘Sparsh’, ‘Paar’ and ‘Iqbal’.

Shah tied the knot first with Parvin Murad with whom he has a daughter named Heeba Shah, who is an actress and theatre personality.

Shah later married actress Ratna Pathak Shah in 1982 after the death of his first wife. The couple has two sons Imaad and Vivaan, who are also actors.

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Writers deserve more credit for epic characters, scenes: Naseer

Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah believes that most epic Bollywood characters became successful not only because of an actor's efforts, but also because they were well-written.

"I admire writers, and in my profession also I believe that a writer's contribution is most important. Whichever performance by any actor has been admired, it has been because those roles or scenes were well-written, " the 62-year-old said here Tuesday at the launch of doctor-author Satyen Nabar's debut novel "A Bolt Of Lightning".

"That's why only actors don't deserve all the credit. Writing is a tough job. To write comprehensively and entertainingly is a big task, " he added.

Naseer also recalled a time when famous writer Gulzar was going through a tough phase but his writing helped him sail through troubled waters.

"Gulzar bhai told me once that when he was going through a tough time, when his films were failing, he had no reason to go to his office. But he said, 'I went there every morning, industriously, from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and he sat and wrote.

'I don't know what I wrote, most of that I have tossed away but that writing regularly kept him sane.' These are Gulzar bhai's own words, " said Naseeruddin.

Some of Naseer's epic roles were in films "Nishant", "Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron", "Masoom", "Ijaazat" and "Bazaar", Ishqiya" and many more.

He was recently seen in the role of a police officer in "Maximum."

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Maximum is a minimum-fuss crime drama

Starring Naseeruddin Shah, Sonu Sood, Neha Dhupia, Amit Sadh, Vinay Pathak

Written & Directed by Kabeer Kaushik

Rating: *** ½

With a kind of brisk businesslike immediacy and the least amount of fuss Maximum takes us into the world of encounter killings and the internecine war in Mumbai’s police department which threatens to destroy the very institution built to mend the wounds and fissures in the social fabric. 

Writer-director Kabeer Kaushik seems to be a born minimalist. His earlier film the underrated Saher was also steeped in the khaki colour. In Maximum the world of legally-enforced corruption is created with such a lack of back-projection, history and vocalized subtexts that you often feel the director takes his audience for granted. 

This is not the case. Kabeer Kaushik only presumes that we are intelligent enough to enter the murky morally ambivalent world of his characters without being led by the hand. It’s a dark unlit and often dreary world ignited by repugnant flare-ups of violence where cops are shown to behave like hardcore criminals. You really can’t tell the two sides apart. 

Naseeruddin Shah who plays a ruthless encounter cop Arun Inamdar is introduced to us when a victim lies bleeding in front of the cop. Characteristically director Kabeer Kaushik plunges into the scene of crime when the dark deed is done. We see Inamdar watching the victim bleed to death and then pumping two bullets into the chap to make sure there’s no unfinished business here. 

This is a world of unmitigated immorality. Bullets are fired not to stop but to merchanidize crime. And the lawmakers are shown to be as corrupt as the ones they set out to nab and mend. Pratap Pandit, as played by that fine versatile actor Sonu Sood, is a man of a few words, much action. 

We are not given a chance to know him closely. He shifts gears so often we’re often left looking briefly at gaping wounds that can never heal in our socio-political system. The view is swift and disconcerting. 

The narration assumes a peculiar pace. Though there are bloody shootouts, grim exchange of dialogues, item girls gyrating in smoky dance bars, and car cashes on Mumbai’s deceptively glistening roads, the underbelly of the film is coated with a deathly silence. 

As guns roar and Daniel George plays out an elegiac evocative background score to underline the senselessness of the violence, we can see the characters’ selfimposed emptiness in the face of the volatile noise that they’ve created around their lives. 

The hollowness hits you in the head more than the heart. And when the emotions seize the plot in a vice-like grip we feel terribly sorry for the characters for the deathtrap that they’ve built for one another and finally themselves. 

The film opens in 2003 at the height of the encounter killings in Mumbai. Two encounter specialists played by Sonu Sood and Naseeruddin Shah are at loggerheads the way any two professionals in the same job-space are bound to be. 

Admirably the director doesn’t use the two principal characters to form a central conflict. This is a world deprived of moral and legal bearings. Dog eats dog. Cop kills cop. 

Kaushik’s narration is as ruthless and stripped of humour and other sources of cinematic solace as the world his characters inhabit. A certain amount of familiarity with the world of encounter killings is assumed on the audiences’ part.

We are expected to understand the subverted value-system of the encounter cops who do their social cleansing and in the process get so embroiled in blood, their hands are soaked in the very blood that they are meant to wash away. 

Hence our ‘hero’ Pratap(based on a real-life encounter specialist) is shown to kill criminals, extort money from builders and businessman and hobnob with the powerful and profance. And yet he returns home to a loving wife(Neha Dhupia, blending into the saree folds as fluently as the slit gowns that she generally wears) and a daughter. The father-daughter scenes are done with a tremulous tenderness. 

Sonu Sood invests immense emotion in these scenes. His performance takes him through several moral dilemmas. Years pass. Sood’s body language expresses the deplorable shift in power equations. Here’s a performance that again proves this underrated actor’s unimpeachable versatility. 

“When you are slipping you either fight back or you keep quiet, ” he tells his journalist-friend, played by an interesting actor Amit Sadh. They share keema-pao at an Irani restaurant. As the years pass earlier the cop paid, later the scribe does. 

A subtle illustration of a power-shift that says so much about the socio-economic equations of Mumbai. The journalist’s character remains a kind of sutradhar who gets willnilly sucked into the power game between crime and politics. 

By the end of the film we really don’t know who is in the crime folds for the money and who’s there for the power. 

Maximum is a film that’s far more in-charge of its out-of-control sharp-shooting cops than it seems. Yes, there have been any number of films about encounter cops. But this one gets at the underbelly of desolation and isolation of such cops as effectively as Shimit Amin’s Ab Tak Chappan. 

The are some brilliantly executed shootouts. Note Neha Dhupia’s haunting alaap just before a pen-ultimate exchange of fire. And the climactic confrontation between Sood and Naseer’s character on a station leaves us sickened yet invigorated…

The stunning endgame is one of the many pleasures of watching Maximum. A layered sharp and sagacious look at the internecine world of encounter cops, Maximum is a minimum-fuss crime drama where the characters are so austere in their emotions they somehow seem to be constantly shadow-dancing with their conscience. 

The performances by Sonu Sood and Naseeruddin Shah propel the plot to a gripping summit. But there isn’t enough of Naseer. Vinay Pathak as a UP ka politician and Amit Sadh as a journalist both trying to make sense of Mumbai’s confounding cosmopolitanism add considerably to the film’s powerful personality. 

For Sonu Sood Maximum is a new beginning.

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Maximum' director 'honoured' to work with Naseer

Director Kabir Kaushik, whose movie "Maximum" is set to hit screens Friday, loved working with Naseeruddin Shah, and hopes the audience will love the movie.

"I am extremely honoured to have Naseer sir in the film. The film is based on crime and police. It's a complete package and I am sure the audience will appreciate the hard work we've put in," said Kaushik.

"Maximum" also features Sonu Sood, Vinay Pathak and Neha Dhupia.

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'No wonder Naseeruddin Shah is the best

Anant Jog feels lucky to be working with Naseeruddin Shah after a gap of more than 15 years

Anant Jog has had a lucky streak in the last couple of weeks, with Shanghai and Rowdy Rathore. The veteran Marathi actor now has more interesting projects up his sleeve.

He will be working with Naseeruddin Shah in debutant director Solomon Ahishor’s upcoming film. The actors have worked together twice before and their last film Chaahat released way back in 1996. Anant is now looking forward to their third project as co-stars. 

Jog raves, “This was my third paid workshop. It’s like going to a drama school without paying the fees. Working with Naseer bhai provides one with an invaluable depth of experience. In fact, you don’t even have to work with him. Just being in his company teaches you so many things. No wonder he’s the best.”


Along with Marathi cinema, the 54-year-old has been constantly juggling relatively smaller roles in Hindi films. But he refuses to discriminate between the two industries, “It goes without saying that Bollywood has a larger canvas and a far wider public reach. That said, for an actor, the expression of emotions remains the same whatever the language be.” 

He is also part of the Marathi remake of No Entry. However, when it comes to Bollywood, Anant prefers to stay unsung. That’s unless you prod him further and he succinctly asks, “Do you know what’s common between Singham, Rowdy Rathore and Shanghai?” before answering himself, “Me.”

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Vidya Balan fascinated by Naseeruddin

Vidya Balan is fascinated with the poetic wooing style of old-timer Naseeruddin Shah rather than wickedly funny guy Arshad Warsi in Vishal Bhardwaj’s protégé Abhishek Chaubey’s directorial debut ‘Ishqiya’. Talking about the difference in the approach of both her lovers in the movie, Vidya informs, “Arshad’s character is a typical guy for whom love is the way to get sex and Naseer saab’s character is more old school.”

She continues, “Krishna is not apologetic about her needs. She gets attracted to Arshad’s character and there is a certain culmination to it. With Naseer saab she enjoys that attention. He woos her in a classical way.” No wonder Vidya falls for Naseeruddin Shah when he woos her with ‘Dil toh bachcha hai ji’.

Ask her how she would like to be wooed in real life she admits, “Fortunately or unfortunately I love the Naseer saab kind of romance, someone who woos with beautiful words and poetry. It’s old school filmy style. I don’t mind when a man opens a door for me or pulls out the chair for me. That chivalry is there in his character though in a different way because it’s a rural setting.”

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