Eyes wide shut! article

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Posted: 19 years ago

Eyes wide shut!

Actor Mazher Sayeed, aka Samar in Saat Phere, keeps his eyes closed to give a realistic performance of a blind man

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Reena Thapar Kapoor

Getting real: Mazher Sayeed

Actor Mazher Sayeed is having a tough time looking into the eyes of his co-actors. No, there hasn't been any dictat from girlfriend Mouli Ganguly. The actor is trying to give a realistic portrayal of a blind man in Saat Phere. The actor insists on keeping his eyes shut when he is on the sets of Saat Phere, to get under the skin of his character. Says Mazher, "Samar has now gone blind in the show and playing a blind character is really taking its toll on me."

According to unit members present on the sets, Mazher would often complain that he isn't doing justice to the character and he'd end up looking straight into the eyes of actor standing next to him while delivering the dialogues.

But now Mazher has found the solution to this problem. The actor has decided to keep his eyes shut and get about on the sets by feeling his way around. He doesn't open his eyes even when he isn't shooting. "I keep my eyes shut before and after my shots," he says.

Mazher says that this 'method acting' has been working for him. "I wear dark glasses on screen, so no one can notice my closed eyes. Initially, keeping my eyes shut was difficult for me. I'd stumble and hurt myself but thankfully I didn't have any major mishap. But it did help me to sharpen my other senses and now I can actually relate to a blind man," Mazher says.

Mazher says that his co-stars and colleagues tease him about being inspired by Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Black. "There isn't an iota of truth in this statement. I'm playing the blind Samar, the way I perceive him. I still have a long way to go before I match up to the performances in Black," he says.