But you’ve been previously aligned with the Left?
Well, you can say that I’m still a Leftist provided they accept that the same God who gave me birth also gave birth to Karl Marx. I’ve come to realise that there is some power above. I’m not God but if you believe that there is some power above you, at least you’ll find someone. Karl Marx was an achiever but his followers are idiots.

Having worked with both Vishal Bharadwaj and Anurag Kashyap, can you tell us how different are their styles of working?
Diametrically opposite. Vishal wants everything on paper, he has already edited the film in his head. He doesn’t allow any improvisation and is very conscious of the graph of the film. Anurag is more instinctive and sometimes decides what he will do only at the location. He tells his actors, “Keep doing whatever you want to and I’ll keep the camera rolling.” He is not particularly bothered about the graph of the film. If you tell him that certain portions are dragging and will bore the audience, he’s like, let them get bored!

What about your Maqbool colleagues, Om Puri and Naseeruddin Shah?
In dono ki baat hi kuch aur hai. They were in the same batch at National School of Drama (NSD) and Film and Television Institute of India (FTII). Both are pioneers who have made cinema accessible to ordinary people. For them, work is a picnic. They are so well attuned to each other’s space that it feels like one person is acting even though they come from diverse acting schools. Naseer is all about method while in the case of Puri saab, one wonders when he rehearses. He is equally at ease with David Dhawan as with Steven Spielberg.

... contd.