Mumbai - Of late Nana Patekar has been bonding with younger co-stars - Ajay Devgan in 'Apaharan', Abhishek Bachchan and Riteish Deshmukh in 'Bluffmaster' and John Abraham in 'Taxi No. 9211'.
But his bonding with 'Ab Tak Chhappan' co-star Nakul Vaid remains unique.
'We did 'Ab Tak Chhappan' and now we have done 'Yatra' together… two completely opposite films by directors who could have been born in two different time zones,' Nakul told IANS.
'When I worked with him for the first time, I was as intimidated by him as anyone else. In fact, I was friendly with his son Malhar and quite scared of the father. It took me a while to know Nana-ji is moody but an extremely generous man.
'He loves to eat and feed his friends. So if he heaps you with food, you know you have been accepted by him. The thing with Nana-ji is he is a complete film person. If you work with him you sign yourself into an institution on cinema.
'Nana recommended me for 'Ab Tak Chhappan' after we worked in a long-forgotten film called 'Vadh'. That was the first time we worked together.'
In 'Yatra', which is Bengali filmmaker Gautam Ghose's third Hindi film, Nakul plays a director and he changed his look to suit the character.
'I have long hair and I put on some weight. I had to play someone older. A lot of the plot came from director Ghose's life. It is one of the finest scripts I have come across. It is a pleasure to be part of something so brilliant. As for Nana-ji, it's unbelievable how well he performs. I feel rejuvenated as an actor.'
He is inspired by his director.
'Gautam-da knows your sensitivities as an actor. He never allows you to feel you have performed wrongly. He understands the capabilities of an actor and works accordingly. He is always sure of himself and yet willing to improvise.'
Nakul is stepping through the maze of career decisions with extreme caution.
'That's why I signed just one film after 'Ab Tak Chhappan', and that's 'Yatra'. The offers that I got were just not exciting enough. Instead of doing some mediocre films I chose to do a socially relevant serial like 'Rihaee'.
'I want to be part of anything good on any medium. On TV I want to do 'Buniyaad' and 'Jassi' ('Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin'). In cinema, I'd like to be in 'Black' or 'Ab Tak Chhappan'.'
It is another matter that 'Rihaee' didn't turn out the way Nakul had thought.
'I can pretend I was entirely happy with 'Rihaee'. It didn't shape up the way I thought. But it was fun working with Divya Dutta and Rajeshwari Badola. I look forward to working on TV again but not in the average soaps.
'I'd love to work in Balaji Telefilms. Their work ethics are fantastic. But I'd do TV only when I am offered something substantial.'
Now Nakul has finally signed another film.
'Suddenly producers are coming forward with worthwhile work. I have signed director Kamal Nathani's new love triangle with Pravin Dabas and a new girl from the south, Samiksha. I play an army man.
'A love story is
something I have never done before. I liked the director's sincerity when he came to me. We have had script sessions and photo shoots. I like that atmosphere of preparedness which I witnessed during 'Yatra' and now this Nathani film.'
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