Bangladeshi star Arifin Shuvoo was recently in Mumbai to promote his film “Mujib: The Making of a Nation”. A National Award-winning actor in his country, he has now acted with Padma Bhushan, director Shyam Benegal, an opportunity Indian actors would kill for.
Arifin, 41, in this interview with indianexpress.com discusses his experience of working with legendary filmmaker Shyam Benegal, his connection with India and Bollywood aspirations.
Arifin says, “Mumbai is like my second home now. People turn my name into Arvind, they confidently call me Arvind and I say ‘yes yes’, I am ok with that. After spending four years with the team, the cast and crew, I feel at home here.”
Talking about his latest, Mujib, he says, “One thing I have to say, I haven’t acted in Mujib. There is a difference between pretending to be someone and being that person, and I realised it because of Shyam Benegal ji. Initially I was trying to get his gestures right, holding the pipe like he did, and he told me to knock it off. He said, ‘you are not Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’. He was Bangabandhu for a very short time period, but what about Mujib prior to that? That is the foundation. That one line changed my whole perception towards the character. Shyam Benegal ji said I have to conceive the soul, and not try to get the external right. So while people think I have acted in this film, I’ve almost not acted, it just came to me and I reflected.”
The actor says Benegal made him give auditions without giving him any feedback. “The first time I met him, I had just finished a cop film and I was all ripped, had six packs and all. While the whole team was looking at my shoulders, Shyam ji just kept talking to me and asked me if I was up for auditions. From then, I auditioned five times — twice in India and thrice in Bangladesh. It was the same audition every time, he used to call me and I would do it but he never gave me any feedback. I didn’t know if I was selected or not.”
Arifin speaks fluently on Hindi as well. Ask him how his Hindi is so good, and he quips, “Please blame Mr Shah Rukh Khan and all these Bollywood stars.” Does he watch their films? He says, “Isn’t it inevitable? Bollywood’s influence is huge in Bangladesh as we share the border. I also have a lot of North Indian friends and Punjabi friends.”
Does he have Bollywood aspirations, “I don’t know, right now I’d say fingers crossed.” Arifin is quite a popular name even in West Bengal, and he’s hooked to Bollywood films and the Indian content that streams on OTT. He says, “I watch a lot of films. My father was a huge fan of Yusuf sahab (Dilip Kumar), so it was there in my house, we would listen to old Bollywood songs on the radio, watch black-and-white films with him. I have watched everything from Sholay to Jawan, Paatal Lok and everything. Nowadays there is no gap because of technology, it’s a global village, and that makes me feel very close to India.”
