Note: I met Shernaz Patel in 2007 and it was a moment of personal significance considering, I grew up watching her on TV in the best years of Doordarshan and had read about her, without ever imagining that I would be interviewing her, one day.
It was hard to look at Shernaz Patel and not remember her luminous Rohini in Mahesh Bhatt’s telefilm Janam. Her frightening capacity to love a man who is bitter like the cigarettes he smokes. And finally her ultimatum to him, “If you don’t succeed, I will kill you.’’ I reminded her of this moment which has stayed with you for years and she laughed, “God, I don’t even remember it!’’ There is a lot more to remember. Her turn in Sridhar Kshirsagar’s Khaandan as a nurse who liberates a suppressed young man from his overbearing, aristocratic family. Her audacious young scribe in serial Naquab, who breaks into an aging actor’s (Anil Chatterjee) retreat to get a scoop and instead develops a bitter, sweet friendship with him.
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Her mother and child commercial which ran for years. Savvy’s cover story on her where a photographer had commented, “You don’t need a soft focus lense to photograph her face.’’ And her spirited interview where she had discussed her strong need for personal freedom and her liberal upbringing in the home of Ruby and Burjor Patel, two theatre personalities who passed on their acting genes to her.
But there was, is, always will be a lot more to her. She has over the years redefined Indian theatre both as a writer and as a producer. She was in Bangalore, a few years back as the producer of Flowers, a play she and Rajit Kapoor had brought to Ranga Shankara. She sat in the empty Cafe of the theatre one early morning and said amusedly, “It was so long back. That cover story came sometime in the eighties.’’ But that is the kind of impact she has on her audience every time she comes out of self-imposed hibernation. A little bit of her goes a long way. Just sample her turn as a strong yet desperate mother in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Black. More about that later. First, it was important to ask her just why we did not see more of her.
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She shared, “I got behind the scenes, became an assistant director, did one travel show for DD, made documentaries and corporate films and then sometime around 1999, was struck by this realisation that what I really wanted was to be an actress, once again! So I went abroad on a scholarship and did my Masters in acting from Glasgow. When I came back, I began going out for auditions because that is the only way to work. I was and am also actively involved with Rage, the theatre company I run with Rajit Kapoor and Rahul D Cunha in Mumbai and acting was happening on and off.’’ Then ofcourse Black happened. She says, “I admire men like Sanjay Leela Bhansali who strive constantly for perfection. He is a fabulous director for all actors and I liked being pushed to do better and not be mediocre. I yearn to be on sets like Black.’’
She did Raj Kumar Santoshi’s Family subsequently as Amitabh Bachchan’s wife and had a cameo in Humko Deewana Kar Gaye. The less than flattering roles she did in a few films have left her unfazed and she said,“One works for many reasons. What I loathe is that people work on sets which incidentally no one dragged them to and then go back and b…h about it. I would never do that. It is stupid.’’
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Recently we saw her essaying a complex role in Onir’s I Am and it is obvious that there are directors who can challenge her occasionally. And she won an award for Bhansali’s Guzarish as well.
She added, “There is no question that if theatre paid me the way cinema does, I would be only a theatre actress. Films are not my medium. A lot of what is churned out is shoddy and one can’t fight it. Within this realm, if I get work like Black, I am fine. Look at Seema Biswas. She is a phenomenal performer and she is still not getting her due unlike the West where a Helen Mirren is getting stellar roles. Here the change will not happen in our lifetime and there no point in complaining.’’
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Shernaz was unapologetic about not fitting in and about her strong convictions. “I am not married and am in no hurry to. It was never a problem for me to do exactly what I want because I was brought up in an open home. I grew up around theatre and was always a very independent child. I know no other way to be. I have always had strong beliefs though I have mellowed a bit now! I have a simple life based on strong bonds with family and friends. Our group Rage has grown from strength to strength and somehow we have stuck together. We also began to promote young writers through our Writer’s Bloc workshops which have created a fantastic buzz and generated new voices. There is a lot of good writing but it is all locked in drawers for want of a break.’’And the future? She smiled, “I do what I have to do. For me there is no other way to be.’’
Reema Moudgil is the author of Perfect Eight (http://www.flipkart.com/perfect-eight-9380032870/p/itmdf87fpkhszfkb?pid=9789380032870&_l=A0vO9n9FWsBsMJKAKw47rw–&_r=dyRavyz2qKxOF7YucnhfXw–&ref=4fe1efd1-de20-4a30-8eb8-ef81a99cb01f