The film Qureshi is referring to is Chhuppan Chhuppai — and the fiasco was duly uncovered in Icon by this writer at the time of its release.
But doesn’t playing the same type of roles over and over again lull his interests? “Even if an actor works for a 100 years, he may not feel that he has seen it all and done it all,” he disagrees. But then, “I try to avoid similar characters,” he says, later. “When I get something different — even if it’s simple — I try to agree to play the character. But one has to be selective. When you’ve worked for so long, the audience’s expectations from you grow. Youngsters don’t get that criticism. People who have been working for a long time get criticised for their get-ups, looks, wardrobe and performance. One has to work on a lot of aspects.
And indeed, Qureshi does; he’s infamous for delving into the character. “It’s not like I get a script and immediately go to set,” he says. “It takes five, maybe six months — sometimes as little as three months — discussing the script and getting into the role, to change my get-up, find the character’s depth, find his pain and happiness.”
Qureshi is currently taking Ramazan off, catching up on serials from Netflix and sifting through roles. Out of the 10 he’s offered, he’ll take one, maybe two, and a maximum of three projects this year. Most of the money he saves from these projects will fund Sorry, where, so far, he is the only producer.
But he’s in no hurry. He’ll use the time to further fine-tune the narrative, which he believes, will be air-tight (the film already has a storyboard in place). “Things, of course, change — but only for the better,” he tells me. “As an actor, I can throw an idea, and the writer and the director can see if it works within the confines of the story. It has rarely happened that writers or directors disagree with my suggestions. At most, it may have happened five percent of the time in my career.”
Qureshi is aware that this may mark him as a overly fussy actor so he is at pains to point out that his resistance is only limited to the pre-production stage. “After I go on set, I surrender myself completely to the director.