‘I work hard for one year and take one year off’
Dressed casually in shorts and a white shirt, Arshad Warsi apologises for his attire and says he has burnt his leg. The actor is promoting his upcoming film Irada with Naseeruddin Shah. “It’s a burn so I couldn’t cover it. I have to leave it open. I got burnt by my motorcycle. For the Dangal party I was planning to wear shorts but my wife said ‘don’t you dare’,” he laughs.
Arshad is elated with the response to his wife Maria Goretti’s cookery book, From My Kitchen To Yours. “Maria is a great cook but I am better. I made breakfast for my children this morning. My maid has gone to get married and my cook has gone to see his family. Right now we are like an American family. We are doing all the chores,” he explains.
About Irada, he says “it was a pleasure working with Naseeruddin. I love him and he’s a great actor and a lovely human being. I said yes to the film because he was in it. I didn’t even hear the script. I am very comfortable with him though he has certain reservations about certain things. He doesn’t like to promote a film. My dream is to work with Mr Amitabh Bachchan. I have done a film with him. The time and film was not right, but I did it”.
Irada is about a deep issue. “If you only talk about a problem, it’s not interesting. It’s a thriller.”
Arshad is taking it easy with films. “I am being choosy. I have decided to devote time to my family. You need to invest in your life more than money and property. If you want a family life, you have to make sacrifices. The greed for money comes in the way and it’s hard to make decisions. Your family and wife will understand for a while, but after a point they won’t. Unfortunately everybody focuses on money. I can’t compare myself to Shah Rukh Khan. He wanted to be a businessman, a star, and he achieved that. Salman wanted to be a big star without working hard, and god blessed him. I want to live a simple life. I want a farm with a lake, I want a healing centre. I’m cowboy at heart. I want a house with kids and dogs, and I have achieved that. I am 48 and work will never leave me. If you are bad at what you do, work will leave you.”
Arshad let go of a lot and started investing time in relationships. “I didn’t let go of my friends. When I feel I need money, I will run around and make it. People who don’t have money have to work, but then family understands. You have to set your priorities. I take my kids out, attend their sports day, I make breakfast for them. I spoil them a lot and Maria gets angry with me. You can’t give 24 hours to your work. You have to prioritise. I work hard for one year and take off for one year. I am not insecure about my job.”
The Irada actor is happy with his children and has a great bonding with them. “We go for long drives and we talk about so many things. It’s important to have that kind of relationships. I didn’t have a cycle and I bought it when I started earning. I won a dance competition and travelled abroad with the money. Everything came late in my life. My daughter is close to Maria and son is very close to me. She is very organised just like Maria.”
After Almost 20 years in Bollywood, Arshad says his life is getting better now. “I worked on many things. I used to fear that every actor is so busy and doing shows and then going to parties or opening a store. I got bored of all these things. I decided to stop doing a lot of things. There’s no end to greed; you would want the world. I had a few dreams, desires… I have achieved them. I want to be a director and I will direct a film some day.”
Arshad’s next film is Golmaal 2. “It’s a funny film. I have also signed a thriller written by the Haji brothers, who wrote Lagaan. I’m doing another film with Sunny Leone and Naseeruddin Shah. I will be judging a new reality show Sabse Bada Kalakaar.”