Dislike the term 'acting', idea is to capture soul of character: Raghubir Yadav

Mumbai, July 18

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Acting as a term reduces the magnitude of the profession, says film veteran Raghubir Yadav, who equates understanding the soul of a character to a “spiritual journey”.

The National School of Drama (NSD) graduate believes it is important to get into the depth of characters even if it requires venturing into uncharted territories.

“Acting is a very dangerous term for me, I dislike it (Acting lafz mere liye bada khatarnak hai, usse main napasand karta hoon)… For me, it is about understanding the character and getting closer to the role. If someone says, ‘Yadav sahab, thoda zara iski acting kar dijiye’.

“Then, it is acting a character and not getting into the soul of a character. You need to feel the character and capture its soul. I enjoy getting into the depth,” Yadav told PTI in an interview here.

The 66-year-old recalled while preparing for Mira Nair’s 1988 film “Salaam Bombay!”, in which he played the character of a drug addict Chillum, he spent some time with real-life addicts on Nana Patekar’s advice.

Yadav’s first film was 1985’s “Massey Sahib”, for which he received many prestigious awards. The Jabalpur-born actor followed it up with memorable TV shows such as “Mungerilala Ke Haseen Sapne”, “Mullah Nasruddin” and went on to play varied roles in films.

The influx of digital platforms has also lent Yadav a canvas to paint interesting characters with series such as “Panchayat”, “The Great Indian Murder” and film anthology “Ray”.

“I have lived so many lives through my characters. We have to get the soul and spirit of every other person that we play in films or theatre. Every character is different. It is about getting into the nitty-gritty. You become and live like the character,” he said.

There was a time in his career when people tried to box him as a comedian, said Yadav, adding that he would prefer to “starve” rather than being repetitive.

The actor will next be seen in “Minus 31 – The Nagpur Files”, a thriller movie directed by Pratik Moitro. The movie is set to be released on Friday.

Yadav plays the role of a former police officer, whose daughter, also a police officer essayed by Rucha Inamdar, is investigating a murder.