When we catch Adil Hussain in between a busy shooting day, his amiability is endearing. Just like his character in the film What Will People Say, where he plays the role of a Pakistani father. The film is Norway’s official entry to the Oscars and Hussain’s second film to head to the Academy after Life of Pi. “It’s satisfying for an actor to have their films chosen for the Oscars but there’s a lot of lobbying to get into the top five films. Campaigning is involved in making the voters watch the film,” says Hussain.
The 55-year-old essays the role of a strict father who tries to control his daughter’s actions. It is an identifiable trait in South Asian families. He fears social ostracism from the close-knit immigrant community in Norway and punishes his daughter. “My character is a typical father who fears judgement of his neighbours but also loves his daughter dearly and doesn’t want to ruin her life,” he says, adding that his own father wanted him to become a professor of English literature.
“My dad couldn’t change me even though he tried so hard. Finally, after seeing my interview in BBC in 2001, he realised that I could act. I told him you should have believed your own son and not BBC,” reminisces Hussain.
The actor likes to keep a steady mix of films with critically acclaimed ones such as Mukti Bhavan, Parched, Love Sonia, English Vinglish, and out-and-out commercial ones such as 2.0, Commando 2, Force 2, and Agent Vinod among others.
“At this juncture of my acting life, I choose scripts that are not mundane but I also have to take care of my family, so I keep the aspect of money in consideration. Also, people need to see my face. If you become an obscure name, producers find it difficult to cast you but if you are a known entity it’s easier to gather funding,” shares Hussain about his process of choosing scripts.
Hussain is one of the few faces from the northeastern region of India to have made name in the Hindi film industry. The actor grew up in Goalpara, Assam, and believes Assamese cuisine “is the most underrated cuisine in the world”. In fact, the actor recently held a workshop on northeastern cuisine at a popular eatery in Delhi. “Assamese food is a gentle mix of spices and vegetables. We don’t overuse spices. We use unique things like Khar, which is a natural soda from banana peel, fermented bamboo shoots etc., that you won’t find in other cuisines,” he says extolling the flavours of his home food.
Hussain doesn’t shy away from talking about issues close to his heart and has been outspoken about problems related to his home state. “Voicing your opinion is a double-edged sword. People expect actors to talk because we come with a certain amount of credibility. But it’s a very personal matter especially because we are not experts. I have been reactive but I realised who I am to say these things?” he clarifies.
Hussain has also been vocal about the case filed by an NGO demanding streaming sites such as Netflix and Amazon to censor their content.
He believes censoring online content is a “blanket ban on artistic expression” and adds, “India has the cheapest smartphones and cheapest 4G networks. Instead of banning that we want to ban the content. Anyone with a phone even in the remotest location can watch what they want.” Hussain, who began his career with theatre, plans to return to it with a play called Karamnistha. “I have been asked to play the role of both Arjun and Krishna in it and I am looking forward to stage it early next year,” he says.