Of the few great actors produced by our television, actor and producer Talat Hussain is very much a perfectionist. Asked why he decided to be an actor by profession, he reveals: “I don’t know why I opted for acting; I liked acting and believed that I can act well so I decided to take acting as a profession.”
Talking about his early years, he recalls: “I never took part in any school or college event. Radio was the main medium at that time so I started working in the features and dramas of the school broadcast. Then with the passage of time I began to act in dramas of general programmes as well.” As for acting, he says, “The basic meaning of acting is to ‘make believe’ but there are many technical things that are included in it. The main idea of acting is to study the character and link the character’s experiences with your own experiences. Not only to make the character a part of your consciousness but also to make it a part of your unconsciousness. This will further enable an actor to think, feel and react like the character.”
This experienced campaigner is very much choosy as far as his roles are concerned. Says he, “Normally I don’t perform the roles that I don’t like.” When asked why most of his roles are commanding, he replies, “I’ve done many comedy roles as well, but, yes most of my roles have been imposing. But there is a little difference between my roles in the currently telecasted plays Ana and Jo Baat Ghar Mein Hai. In Jo Baat Ghar Mein Hai I play the role of a self-made person who is less educated but is a businessman. The person in Ana is also a self-made businessman who has educated himself through struggle.”
This seasoned veteran is very fond of books; he says, “I read each and every book that I come across. However, it are the ones I read long ago that I still remember and are very important in my life. These include The Trial by Franz Kafka, Silk by Caitlin R. Kiernan and there are many other serious books as well as comedic ones that I read. Plus I read novels too. So I read anything that I get.”
Asked if he is fond of poetry, he says, “Well not really, I like to listen to poems and even appreciate good poetry, but I am not very fond of poetry.”
As far as movies are concerned, Talat Hussain is choosy. Says he, “It depends upon my mood, I have bought many DVDs of my choice and whenever I feel to watch a movie I select a DVD from my collection. Normally I watch TV but sometimes I need a break so I watch movies instead. There are classics, modern classics as well as western classics in my collection. It depends mainly upon my mood, like if I am serious and am in search of inspiration I watch a creative movie.”
On expressing his favourite Pakistani movie, he says: “I haven’t come across any outstanding Pakistani movie lately; the only one that I found interesting was Baaji by Syed Suleman apart from that I haven’t watched much Pakistani stuff lately.”
Indian movies do not have any impact on this guy as he says, “I do watch Indian movies, in fact, I have watched many Indian movies and have liked them for some reason or the other, but I haven’t come across any Indian movie as yet that I could term outstanding. In Pakistan, film making doesn’t have any charm anymore, we don’t make as many films as the Indians do. The only Pakistani movie that I personally liked was Baaji and other than that there was Insaaf aur Qanoon as well. But Baaji was an outstanding movie. There were some Indian movies that I liked too, for instance, Shakti was a good one. Amitabh Bachan’s Abhimaan is one good film; Masoom was another good movie while Sholay was a very well made film, very cinematic. Indian movies are good but one doesn’t remember them much. My approach, when watching a movie, is not solely entertainment, in fact, I search for some message in it.”
Talat Hussain is very much into western movies and the list of films that he remembers watching is never-ending. “Young Lions, Round Tree County, Sionara, Sign of the Pagan, Lust For Life, Mr. Ripley’s Game, Tom Jones, The Servant, Gangs of New York, China Town. There are so many movies that I’ve watched and have liked too, but I don’t really remember the names of all of them because it is a long list.”
Talat Hussain is senior to most of the actors that he works with nowadays and thinks that all actors are good and are very hard-working. As far as getting inspired is concerned, he says, “Qavi Khan and Abid Ali are good actors but the ones from whom I was inspired are mostly not alive anymore, many of them were radio artists. Film actor Muhammad Ali and Zia Moheyuddin are the ones who inspired me a lot. Other than that there are many good actors like Firdous Jamal and Qayyam Sarhadi too. But as far as getting inspiration is concerned there hasn’t been any television actor from whom I got inspired.”
Talking about music he says, “I like to listen to soft music. I am not very fond of fast tracks or the hip-hop ones but those which are soft and poetic. I like Fuzon’s Ankhoon Ke Saagar a lot.”
Pondering over his hobbies he says, “I was interested in cricket too and played in the Quaid-e-Azam Junior’s Trophy as well. But that was a long time ago. Now whenever I am free, I either opt to read a good book or write something. Mostly I am fond of reading.”
When asked to give a wild guess as what he would have been if not an actor he says, “I would have been a writer or a professor, because that is what I liked the most from my early days.”
In his message to the many youngsters who want to enter show business he says, “Everyone is welcome. One might be very handsome and have good charisma but yet he might not click. One can be a mediocre person and yet click. It’s not a bed of roses.”
Of the few great actors produced by our television, actor and producer Talat Hussain is very much a perfectionist. Asked why he decided to be an actor by profession, he reveals: “I don’t know why I opted for acting; I liked acting and believed that I can act well so I decided to take acting as a profession.”
