ACTOR REVIEW - DETECTIVE BYOMKESH BAKSHY - ASIAN AGE

The monk who became a villain

Apr 10, 2015 - Subhash K. Jha

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Neeraj Kabi

After winning kudos for his role as the monk in Ship Of Theseus, Neeraj Kabi played a villain with ease in Detective Byomkesh Bakshy. Ask the actor what prompted him to take up a role so diametrically different from his previous on and he replies, “I want to play characters who can provoke me into transforming in body and soul.”

In Neeraj’s context, you can interpret those words quite literally — he lost 18 kg for his role in SOT, at great cost to his health. “I was 42 at the time and doctors warned me not to mess with my metabolism and blood pressure. Everything went well in spite of the weight loss. It was only towards the end of the shooting in Jaipur that I began to suffer blackouts. But I’d do it again for a role if it’s worth it,” Neeraj says.

After SOT, Neeraj portrayed Mahatma Gandhi in the TV series Samvidhan. Then came Byomkesh. “Getting the physicality right was not my main concern (with this film),” says Neeraj. “I had to explore the character’s inner world and emerge with the correct emotions. Luckily my director (Dibakar Banerjee) was a big help. He gave me lots of material to read up on that era.”

Next up for Neeraj is Meghna Gulzar’s Nyodda. “It’s based on a true incident and I’ve a very interesting character to play. Besides, I got to work with amazing talents like Vishal Bhardwaj, who has produced and written the film, Tabu and Irrfan Khan,” says Neeraj. Also on the anvil is Kranti Kanade’s Gandhi Of The Month.

Says Neeraj, with a laugh, “It looks like there is no getting away from Gandhi for me. I played Gandhi in Samvidhan, I worked with Anand Gandhi on SOT. I have Gandhi Of The Month coming up. And Nyodda releases on Gandhi Jayanti. I think I should re-christen myself Neeraj Gandhi!”