Vijay Varma and Fatima Sana Shaikh’s latest film Gustaakh Ishq is currently running in theatres. Vijay and Fatima are sharing screen space with veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah in the Vibhu Puri directorial for the first time.
Sharing the experience of working with Shah, Vijay, during a conversation at IFP, said, “Have you heard him? It sounds like God is talking to you directly. He has got that baritone, that voice that comes from somewhere else. It sounds like the voice of the universe. Like Morgan Freeman is the voice of God in Hollywood, and we've Naseeruddin Shah as the voice of God,” Vijay said.
“His grip over the languages, Hindi, Urdu, English, Punjabi, and Parsi... he is so good with so many different dialects. He is an institution. So, just being around him, looking at him working, is an experience. I've had two profound experiences. One was with Mr Bachchan when I was shooting Pink, another one was with Naseer Sir. It's amazing to just look at them,” he added.
Sharing similar sentiments, his co-star Fatima referred to Shah as a “teacher” and recalled how he helped her understand the importance of “living in the moment” as artists.
“I was like I hope he doesn't think I'm a bad actor. I was very worried he'd judge me. There was this one scene where I had to cry, and he did something really small, but it changed the whole moment,” she said.
“He placed my hand on his pulse so I could feel the heartbeat, basically telling me to be in the moment. What really empowered me was Naseer Sir saying, 'It's okay. Feel it. You don't have to hit those beats perfectly,” she added.
Both Vijay and Fatima said the on-screen romantic chemistry between them stems from their friendship.
“We are like friends. We would laugh a lot in between scenes. We share great friendship, there's warmth and if there's friendship then it becomes easy,” Shaikh said.
“Chemistry is nothing but good friendship, people think chemistry is a different kind of energy. It's about two people knowing and accepting each other. For me humour was the strong connection with her,” Vijay said, adding, he admires Shaikh's film choices.
