‘High time that B’wood and south films stopped typecasting’

CHENNAI: Prominent theatre personality and actor Mohammad Ali Baig is someone, who discuss cinema at length for hours. When we mean cinema, it is only good cinema that he chooses to talk about. “Aruvi for instance, in which I played a north Indian police officer, is a movie that I watched sitting among the audience, who were applauding it in places where it really deserved. I watched it at a theatre at the heart of Chennai and the vibe was different altogether. I was glad about people’s appreciation for good content. Again Cobra, in which shared the screen space with Vikram had me in an impactful role. Ajay Gnanamuthu is an intelligent writer. When I heard my character, I loved the way it was written. Playing a math teacher with different shades of character and leading Mathi to make a chemical explosion using mathematical formulas or be it the interrogation scene, he planned it really well. I wouldn’t call it a short role but I would call it impactful,” he tells us.

Coming from Hyderabad, Mohammad opens up that actor Chiyaan Vikram made him feel home on the sets of Cobra. “If there is one word to describe Vikram, I would call him a sweetheart. The way he bonds with his co-actors on sets and how he treats them is commendable. We shot for Cobra in St Petersburg in a freezing weather and the overcoat you saw in the movie is mine. I was wearing it in London and Ajay asked if I could use it for the film as well,” he says with a smile. Ajay credits PS Mithran for his substantial role in Karthi’s Sardar and draws a common connection. “I haven’t played a Tamil guy in any of my Tamil films yet. I played a Bengali in Cobra, a Malayali police officer in Sardar and a north Indian in Aruvi. I am waiting to play a role that is rooted yet,” he quips.

On working with the current crop of directors, he says, “The names I had mentioned above used my potential well. Aruvi is a film that didn’t have names like Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan and still was a profitable venture. However, I have also been listening to stories that typecast actors-- especially women. Some of the scripts I have heard didn’t require female leads. When I asked those directors why is this character in the film, he said for financial purposes. That is a sad thing. Women are heroes in real life. Showing them as frivolous characters on screen is unfortunate.” Mohammad also feels that a south actor or an actor from the north is being typecast by filmmakers. “In a Bollywood film, a south Indian is shown as someone with big moustache and is clad with gold jewels all over. In south films a north actor always gets to play the antagonist. I think we haven’t grown beyond that yet,” the actor remarks.

Mohammad’s wife Noor Baig too is a writer. “We discuss scripts and she takes a call on them. If she doesn’t find my character substantial or typecast she asks me to turn the movie down. She also designs my look for my characters,” he concludes.