For veteran actor Aanjjan Srivastav, who turns 75 on Friday, a birthday is just another reminder about the new mountains he wants to scale in his career going forward.
Best known to Indian masses as the common man Srinivas Wagle of "Wagle Ki Duniya", the Doordarshan show of the late 1980s, the actor said his children have planned to throw a birthday party for him.
"There will be a screening of some of my best work. Then, there will be a party, some of my old friends and colleagues will be there," Srivastav told PTI in an interview here.
From being a bank employee, reading plays on All India Radio to later joining the Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA) on arriving in Mumbai in the late 1970s, the Kolkata-born actor has come a long way.
Likening acting to life, Srivastav said after straddling several mediums of expression, he wants to actively delve into the digital scene. He previously starred in the Disney+ Hotstar series "Out of Love".
"There is always something to learn in life. Similarly in acting, you keep on learning. I have done radio plays, stage plays, television, ads, cinema, and web series. I want to do more web series now. I enjoy it," he added.
Over the years, Srivastav said he has learned to "stay grounded" and work with "good directors and actors".
"I am still the same, I live in a middle-class family set-up," he said, crediting his chance meeting with screen icon Balraj Sahni in Kolkata for his introduction to IPTA.
"I became his (Sahni's) fan, I learnt more about him... the social work he did, how he became part of IPTA. Acting is not just about dialogue delivery or dancing, there are other things that you need to understand. I learnt more about acting at IPTA," he added.
It was the exposure at IPTA that helped Srivastav meet artists like his "Wagle Ki Duniya" director Kundan Shah, and creator-cartoonist R K Laxman, and legendary poet Kaifi Azmi.
"I cannot explain in words the impact that they have had on my life and acting career," he said, adding that doing theatre at his age is "difficult" but he has continued to devote time to it.
Srivastav will be back on stage in Ahmedabad on July 2 for "Kashmakash", a stage production that revolves around a freedom fighter.
"For me, there is no difference between theatre and life... I pray to God that till the very end (of my life), I keep doing theatre. Whether I do TV, movies or not, but theatre is something I will never quit," he said.
The actor continues to be busy in films too. His next project is the Vicky Kaushal-starrer "Sam Bahadur", based on the life and times of Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, one of India's greatest war heroes.
"I have worked with a new generation of actors like Ayushmann Khurrana (in ‘Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui’), he is a very good actor, Vicky Kaushal is also good. I believe actors who are down to earth are always a good actor because they bring out life experiences onscreen," he said.
Most recognised for his pivotal roles in films such as “Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar”, “Chamtakar”, “Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman”, “Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa”, “Chak De! India”, and “Sanju”, Srivastav said he was never enamoured by the idea of playing "the hero".
“The idea of being a hero is something that I have never let come to me since the time I started work in Calcutta, I wanted to be a character artist. If you look at my young photograph, I was called Jeetendra. But I had decided to play diverse characters, get into the depth of a person,” he recalled.
Srivastav still remembers knocking on the doors of production houses for an acting job and it all changed in one flick after “Wagle Ki Duniya”, a serial based on Laxman's character of "the common man", aired.
The actor said he is grateful to Laxman for all the popularity and work opportunities he received post the TV show.
A lot of artists were amazed by the success of the serial and would often ask him, "What have you done?" Late Hindi cinema star Rishi Kapoor was one of them, he said.
"Rishi Kapoor had once asked me, 'What is this 'Wagle Ki Duniya' and what have you done in it?' I told him, 'I did the same thing as any actor would do, but people started looking at me differently'. I got a lot of work (after the show)," he added. Srivastav is equally grateful to the late Kundan Shah for believing in him as an actor and casting him in numerous acclaimed TV shows and films such as popular sitcoms “Wagle Ki Duniya”, "Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi”, “Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa”, and “Dil Hai Tumhaara”.
“Kundan held my hand and gave me a lot of opportunities. I met Kundan during the shooting of ‘Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyu Aata Hai’ and we became friends. He gave me a role in ‘Saza-E-Maut’, ‘Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi’, and he started repeating me in his projects.
“I did one episode in ‘Nukkad’ and ‘Manoranjan’. He told me once, ‘You are an actor to whom I can give any character’. He had confidence in me. He played a huge role in the actor that I am today,” Srivastav said, adding, some of his other interesting work includes films such as “Damini” and “Chak De! India”.
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