Poised for the big innings

Murli Sharma, recently seen in “Baby”, credits his experience in theatre and radio for his eventual success in cinema

Murli Sharma in the serial “Paltan”

At the end of a telephone conversation with Murli Sharma, one is struck by his self-confidence, pragmatism and realistic attitude. Why? Because he believes he has what it takes to achieve what he set out to do, despite the challenges.

Recently seen in Neeraj Pandey’s Baby the actor says he was “pleased with the response and feedback”, describing the role as a “pleasant and thrilling experience to enact”. Murli’s visibility has increased ever since the tele-serial Paltan began airing on Doordarshan National four times a week in which he plays the lead role of Col. R.S. Sajwan. “Listening to the story from Achint Kumar Ganguli (one of the producers), I was able to identify with the character. Being a pivotal, positive and interesting role I did not want to miss this opportunity, which came out of the blue. That Gurbir Singh Grewal is directing was also an important factor,” explains the actor, adding, “It touched my patriotic chord and I was led by the heart.”

Saying he was not serious about acting while doing small roles in school and college productions, Murli quips, “The rehearsals provided a good reason to skip classes.” It took a different turn when he joined the Roshan Taneja School of Acting. “I thought that I too will make it big like others. Later, I realised that there is much more to this career than mere training.”

Back then, good looks were considered a prerequisite for roles, particularly the lead. “Unlike now when characters are important, appearance was everything. In fact many said so. Devoid of the backup of an affluent family I grabbed whatever opportunity to set the ball rolling and did amateur theatre, radio shows and plays, television, irrespective of the length or importance,” he says. Enactment of Ram Kali’s role, a eunuch in

Zameer , part of the series Rishtey on Zee TV, elicited appreciation from Mahesh Bhatt. Despite all this, even offers for the small screen were limited, again due to his looks.

The tide turned with Vishal Bhardwaj’s Maqbool (2003) and Main Hoon Na (2004) in which he left an indelible mark through his small but important roles. In 2005 came the Prakash Jha directed Apaharan . “I was happy as my work made a dent and brought in its wake a little limelight. People saw me in a different light and work started trickling in slowly and steadily,” comments the modest actor. In his more than a decade long journey, he has been a part of hit movies including Sunday , Golmaal Returns , Chal Chala Chal , Dabangg , Golmaal 3 and Singham . Grit and determination made him sail through and the 60-odd films are a proof.

Is it destiny or luck? “Neither, as I do not believe in both,” he rebuts, quoting Robert A. Heinlein, “Luck is a tag given by the mediocre to account for the accomplishments of genius,” and adding, “I am still trying to better myself.”

Stressing his theatre and radio experience as crucial, Murli says, “Theatre is the best medium to connect with the audience.” How does he prepare for his roles? He explains, without pretensions, that it is his innate gut feeling which guides him. “I have been blessed with an auto mode function which starts working the moment the role is being explained to me and this guides me in performing. One thing I ensure is the reading of scene with all the actors at least three times before shooting, to ensure that we are on the same page,” a method imbibed from theatre.

Does being cast as villain or policeman bother him? “No it does not. Mahesh Bhatt ji had told me, ‘Do not bother about being typecast. Try and make an image for yourself and when you reach that stage, you can and will be able to break it’,” the actor says, adding, “Even for similar roles I try to do each one differently by bringing a change in the slang, gait and manner.” In fact the cop role in Singham landed him a portal advertisement.

Language has not restricted Murli from trying to reach a wider audience through his work in Tamil, Marathi, Malayalam and Telugu films. “It is not a barrier. On the contrary it got me recognition and adulation whether it was airport, station or hotel.” Interestingly he dubs in his own voice for Telugu and Marathi films.

Satisfied with the way his career has shaped, the actor is looking forward to his forthcoming films like Badlapur , Dharam Sankat Mein , Snafu , Wazir , ABCD-2 , apart from Mahesh Manjrekar’s Hindi remake of his Marathi film Kaksparsh .