Awards are subjective: Kumud Mishra

Years ago, Kumud Mishra landed up in Bombay to audition for the lead role in Shyam Benegal’s Making of the Mahatma. The final call was between Rajit Kapur and him, and the former managed to bag it. “Thankfully, I didn’t get the role. I would have been exposed for the bad actor I was then!” he guffaws. It’s only now, Kumud acknowledges, after doing years of theatre, television and films, that he’s understood the craft a bit. “To do good work, you have to work hard, but the possibility of doing bad work always remains with you. And you just might see it soon!” the actor says with a laugh.

His self-deprecating humour is just one of the things that makes Kumud such a likeable person. It’s easy to see that while he takes his work seriously, he doesn’t take himself seriously as an actor. “What is there to take seriously, after all?” he asks. “Jitni jagah chhoti hoti hai, utni ego badhi hoti hai. When you step out and the world becomes bigger, your ego becomes that much smaller because you realise that there are so many other brilliant people around. There are so many talented actors in theatre and cinema. The important thing is to watch them and learn. To see, whether you have reached a saturation point or see a possibility,” he opines. Thankfully, he adds, he can still see the possibility. “That’s the only positive thing I can say about myself,” says the actor, who has been a part of plays such as Park, Bali Aur Shambhu, Kaumudi, Shakkar Ke Paanch Daane, Cotton 46 Polyester 84 among others.

Honest confession

We’re seated inside Prithvi Theatre, where in a couple of hours, he will perform Dhumrapaan, Akarsh Khurana’s play which has been nominated in five categories in the Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards (META), including a nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Male) for Kumud. “It’s a good thing for the team,” he says modestly. But has he ever felt he deserved an award and didn’t get it? “No, because awards are very subjective. If you If you’re in the profession for awards, then you’re in it for the wrong reason. The important thing is to work honestly,” he says.

D for Director

He brushes off the praise we have for him, but is himself full of compliments for his director, Akarsh. “His casting is perfect. He follows our work, so he knew who will fit in where. Secondly, he has a very sharp observation about life. He will tell you something, which if you’re a good actor, you will grasp immediately. But if you’re not that sharp, he will find other ways of communicating it to you,” he explains, adding that when the director is not stressed, he doesn’t let the actors feel the stress. “Haste khelte audience aati hain, aur haste khelte jaati hain,” he says, and reveals that his theatre group, D for Drama, is working on another play with Akarsh. “He’s such a good director, we don’t want to let go of him so easily,” he smiles.

On the film front

Although Kumud has acted in a number of films, last year saw him playing some important characters in movies. He was Salman Khan’s coach in Sultan, while in Rustom, he played a Parsi editor. In Airlift, he was Sanjeev Kohli, the Indian government official who is instrumental in bringing the Indians from Kuwait, while in MS Dhoni, he played the cricketer’s early benefactor.

Ask him if he thinks theatre actors have it easier in Bollywood because of their background, and he answers in the negative. “I don’t see the connection,” he says, adding that just like every student who comes out from drama school isn’t a good actor, every person who has not gone to drama school is not a bad actor. “There are brilliant actors who have never gone to training institutes, but they have opened their minds and their senses are open to grasp everything around them. As an actor, you should have the ability to learn,” says the National School of Drama graduate, who is waiting for the release of his next project, director Nitin Kakkar’s Ram Singh Charlie.