Chitrangada Satarupa was surprised when she had to audition for her upcoming film Main Actor Nahin Hoon. The director Aditya Kripalani had been her frequent, long-time collaborator. She made her Hindi feature debut with the filmmaker’s first Tikli and Laxmi Bomb (2017) and had been a part of the director’s two other works: Tottaa Pataaka Item Maal (2019) and Devi Aur Hero (2019). “It’s not like I was against auditioning. I was just curious,” says Chitrangada. “But then, I read the script and Aditya told me Nawaz sir (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) was on-board. I was like if this gets me to work with one of the finest actors in the country, it doesn’t matter. I actually didn’t step out of the house for three-four days. I prepared for that audition as if I have got the film and I am preparing for the character.”

In the film, Chitrangada plays Mouni Roy, an alcoholic, struggling actor from Mumbai who has to teach acting to a depressed banker, Adnan Baig (Nawazuddin), who resides in Germany, that too over a video call. “It actually felt like doing a play because sometimes the takes would be very long,” says Chitrangada. Although most of the film is a conversation over devices, we also see these two characters residing in two different, contrasting worlds. “Mouni is operating in the heat and the hustle-bustle of a chaotic Mumbai while Nawaz sir’s character is in a much quieter, calmer place, like Frankfurt, with cool weather. It also reflects his character, who is retired. It’s all very metaphorical,” explains Chitrangada. This is also the first time she is working with Nawazuddin and although she is teaching the senior actor in the film, off camera she learnt a lot from him. “The first thing I took from Nawaz sir is how to mind your own business,” says Chitrangada, with a laugh. “I have seen that seasoned actors actually never tell the director or their fellow actors what to do. Working with Nawaz sir made me realise that there is so much to learn about the craft of acting that there is no time to give unsolicited advice to others. I remember one day between shots, he told me that he doesn’t get intimidated while working with famous actors. In fact, he said, it is the younger, less experienced actors who surprise him.”

It’s always intriguing to watch a seasoned actor like Nawazuddin do rookie acting as part of playing a character. “It was the first day of shooting when he had to “act like a bad actor”, remembers Chitrangada. “And I was eager to watch how he would do that and when he did, my reactions didn’t need much work, they just came out as natural responses.”

Chitrangada has worked with the film’s director Aditya since his debut, so we ask her how would she describe his evolution over the years? “There have been a lot of changes,” says Chitrangada. “See, Aditya is a writer-director and they tend to be a little more possessive. I remember during Tikli and Laxmi Bomb he didn’t like it if somebody tried to change his lines but with Main Actor Nahin Hoon he was more open to improvisation.” She also says that as an artist, Aditya’s understanding of human relationships has only deepened. “He has mastered how to say more with less,” she says.

If we are talking about subtlety, the current mainstream landscape is anything but less. The macho, action-driven narratives talk over the nuances of Indie cinema, which occasionally finds a space even on streaming platforms. “Recently Nukkad Naatak got a Netflix release, there is also Jugnuma and Girls Will be Girls on Prime but still I feel for an Indie film it is an arduous struggle to get a release. You might get a platform if you win an award at some festival, otherwise it can be really tough,” says Chitrangada. “And it is not just the mainstream films Indie cinema has to compete with, there is also this thing called hate-watching, which I recently discovered. People continue to watch something they don’t like and OTT platforms, they only care about numbers so they continue to make this content. I don’t understand it. There is so little time to even watch the good stuff, how are people continuing to watch something they don’t like?”