When producer-director Prakash Jha called about a new film, Arshad Warsi’s knee-jerk response was that the prospect of doing a political drama was very boring. When Jha told him that it was a comedy, his perplexed reaction was, “political comedy”? Fraud Saiyyan is a markedly different film from Jha’s previous productions, specially the last one — Lipstick Under my Burkha. “It’s more Indian, set in the Hindi heartland and based on a real-life person who was having multiple affairs at the same time,” says Jha. Warsi gets the chance to play a conman, ironically named Bhola Prasad Tripathi, who ends up marrying 13 women and living off their money.
For the love of acting
Over the years, Warsi’s reasons for choosing a project haven’t changed, which he feels are a bit “weird” compared to most actors. A good script, production house and director are all important but if they come attached with bad temperaments and other such annoyances then it is not worth it. Being lazy, he cannot force himself to work, neither is he after extreme wealth — so enjoying the entire process becomes vital, and has to make leaving the comfort of his home worthwhile. Although he admits doing a few past projects for “friends”, and out of “respect”, Warsi insists that one “doesn’t need to sell their soul to the devil.”
An important reason for Warsi accepting Fraud Saiyyan is his trust in Jha’s experience and judgement. Although director Sourabh Shrivastava is only two films old ( Oh, My God!! , 2008; Typecaste , 2017), Warsi relied on Jha’s production house to have made the right choice. Despite being “obviously a newcomer”, the actor credits Shrivastava for a job well done and believes that plenty of work will come his way in the future. However, the final version of the film was edited to fix some “pacing issues”, and Shrivastava has now distanced himself from the project.
Comfortable collaborations
Speaking of co-actors, Warsi maintains that personal relationships certainly help the on-screen dynamic but cannot be a substitute for the prerequisite — good acting. Otherwise, the co-actor “may be your brother or girlfriend” but if they aren't good actors, there will be no chemistry. In Fraud Saiyyan , Warsi teams up with his friend and past collaborator Saurabh Shukla, who he calls “a brilliant actor” and modestly refers to himself as “not too bad”. Their friendship and lack of egos on set make "a world of difference", a naturalness and comfort in the performances, which Warsi believes the audiences will witness in the film.
Over the years, a recurring challenge for Warsi has been making bad guys likeable. And he has arguably lived up to it in performances such as the now-iconic ‘Tapori’ character, Circuit ( Munna Bhai MBBS), and the uncouth, misogynist Babban Hussain ( Ishqiya) . Fraud Saiyyan’s con-man Bhola, who is “completely wrong” in his way of life, presented a similar problem. Warsi’s approach was to play him with utmost sincerity and honesty. He believes, what the audience will find incredulously fascinating is Bhola’s honesty when lying, “with each woman he behaves like how she would want her [ideal] husband to be”. Only in his solitude does one witness the true depth of the character’s crookedness, and ultimately its origins, providing an organic dash of emotion, which for Warsi is integral to any good comedy.
Remixes and #MeToo
Doesn’t the film sound a tad out of joint in the times of #MeToo? Both Warsi and Jha feel that this film is not part of that conversation. “The poor guy gets thrashed all the time”, says Warsi and there’s nothing that “anyone would take seriously” from this film.
Speaking about the iconic ‘Chamma, Chamma’ song, remixed for this film (with over 64 million YouTube views), Warsi says that is one of the rare “good remixes” and is full of praise for Elli Avram, calling her “stunning” and “one of the best dancers I have ever seen”. He does concede that it’s impossible to get the original out of one's head. At the same time, he feels one shouldn't get too preachy about item numbers. “Whatever is iconic always returns in a new form. Even the Ramayana is iconic but people keep using it, so is the Mahabharata, which I use all the time. So what’s the harm?” asks Jha rhetorically.
For the actor, going to the movies is “an experience: go with your friends, watch a few item numbers, cars being blown-up, things flying” and the most important thing is to “have a good time”. Films are finally an “escape”, a medium of “entertainment and fun”, so one shouldn’t get “too technical”. Warsi emphasises that, “not every filmmaker has to be Nietzsche”.
