At the latest edition of Express Adda, presented by Yes Bank in association with India Infoline Finance Limited (IIFL) and Olive Bar & Kitchen, held in Mumbai recently, Bollywood actor-director Farhan Akhtar was at his candid best. During a conversation with a select audience, moderated by Shekhar Gupta, Editor-in-Chief of The Express Group, and Priyanka Sinha Jha, Editor of Screen, Akhtar spoke about his family, co-actors, how he approaches his craft, and his transition from a director to an actor.

The Journey

In my earlier years, I couldn?t commit to anything; whatever I?d take up would last for a month or two, including college. I lived with my mother and she used to be very distressed with my behaviour. Later, when I thought of a career in films, I felt my strength lay in writing, not acting. It?s important to be honest with yourself and know whether you are good and ready enough to do it, because it?s not a job in isolation, there are other people?s lives and careers on the line. But working closely as a director and writer with talented people such as Aamir Khan, Dimple Kapadia and Amitabh Bachchan, I learnt about character building, and how they approach their craft. That helped me in transitioning to an actor.

Lakshya taught me an important life lesson?it is not up to you if your film does well. I had expectations from Lakshya because we had worked hard in making it. But I learnt that once the film is out there, it has a life of its own and as hard as you worked or as lax as you?ve been, people will like the film for what it is.

Celebrating Who You Are

Dil Chahta Hai isn?t just about being unabashedly rich, it?s about being unabashedly who you are. I wrote about the world and the people I knew, the kind of friends I had, something no one was doing at that time. So many people, like me, had stopped watching Hindi movies. We?d prefer watching international releases on DVD or in theatres, so probably it was in the spirit of protest that I wrote the script and made that film.

Playing Milkha Singh

I must thank all the actors who refused to play Milkha Singh before me; I was sold on it in the first 20 minutes of the story?s narration. Working on the film taught me that there is potential within each human being to achieve anything they set their mind on to if they?re willing to sacrifice luxuries and remain focused. That?s the message Milkha Singh wanted conveyed through the film. I remember our first meeting at Priyadarshini Park in Dadar, Mumbai, where I was training for my part. When he came to the track, there was an electric energy as soon as he entered. All the young athletes training there started touching his feet. He, too, was interested in what sport they were participating in. That was the day I truly realised the importance of this movie, and that worked as a motivation to get his story right.

Creative Process

As an actor, it depends on what is being asked of me. For instance, for Karthik Calling Karthik, I locked myself in a room for roughly a month before we started shooting. I didn?t want to speak with anybody so that I could start having conversations with myself. But when I?m writing, I tend to lock myself alone. That?s unlike my father who can write no matter what is going on around him. I have witnessed this in a studio, especially when he?s writing lyrics. There?s music, people around are chatting, but he?s lost in his own world.

Music On His Mind

When I am writing a scene, I always imagine the background score. Films have a certain tempo in storytelling and there is a beat the screenplay follows?like any piece of orchestral music, there will be highlights, a lull, going-down tempo for a while and maybe then the grand finale. So when I am watching an edit, reading a scene or getting ready to perform, I always have some kind of musical references to create the mood. For instance, to shoot for Milkha Singh?s final race in Patiala, we were on the sets without rehearsal, and the tune from The Last of the Mohicans started playing in the back of my mind. There is a big crescendo in the end where I imagined him running across the finishing line; it really helped.

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