You may know him as a hapless man caught in his friends’ antics in Golmaal, the anxious and troubled Raju in 3 Idiots, a free-spirited student in Rang De Basanti, or the loving father determined to fulfill his son’s dream of riding a Ferrari in Ferarri ki Sawaari. With these hits and more under his belt, Sharman Joshi always managed to make audiences laugh with his comedic sensibilities, even while bringing out his characters’ emotional depths. All this, he credits to theatre.
“Comic timing is something I’ve gotten ahold of thanks to plays where directors and audiences were my teachers. People know me for my comic timing but I think what comes to me naturally is drama and emotion,” reveals Joshi in a conversation ahead of his visit to the city this weekend for a public showing of the play Raju Raja Ram Aur Main, which was unexpectedly cancelled. Returning to the quadruple role earlier this year after an 8-year break, Joshi has previously performed the rib-tickling comedy drama in private shows in the city.
Many may not know that Joshi got his start in acting through Gujarati plays, coming from a family of decorated thespians. His father Arvind Joshi gave him his first role outside of college productions, a small cameo. “After graduation, I had three options: become a lawyer, go into business or do something with my father. Acting was the first thing that came to me instinctively mainly because of my proximity to this world as a kid. I’d been going to the theatre with my aunt and uncle, watching them perform live – that was my little world apart from my home life,” he says. His theatrical career took off with other roles after the initial project with his father, including Ame Layi Gaya, Tame Rahi Gaya, the Gujarati version of Raju Raja Ram Aur Main, of which he’s done ‘700-800 shows’. He stepped back from them when his acting career took off in the late 2000s.
Despite that, something of the stage has stayed in him, as he says, “Those days of pitching your voice on stage may be over but that energy you feel when connecting with an auditorium of people remains. So I approach all my roles like I approach my plays.”
Sixteen years after 3 Idiots hit theatres, the film has achieved cult status. It is something that Joshi is still recognised for in the streets and asked about in interviews. While some actors may dislike being associated with a singular film, it’s more complex for Joshi. He says, “I relate to the actors who feel that way because you don’t want to get caught up with one character, but it’s a good feeling at the same time. This kind of film doesn’t happen every day, does it? It’s a special one that people talk about with so much love and passion. Even today, you bring up 3 Idiots, and we’ll talk about it like it came out last night.”
He shares an anecdote about his niece, a primary school student when the film came out. “She always remembered it as a sad film because I jump off the window and in her head, it was always a bad film. Just last week, as a 21-year-old, she watched it and and I got so many compliments. I’m so glad I was able to impress my niece,” he laughs.
Recently, Joshi’s been seen in OTT shows like Kafas on Sony Liv, taking on more serious personas. His Bengali debut Bhalobashar Morshum started filming last month. While he’s tight-lipped about the premise, he reveals, “It’s a romantic drama that’s got various shades of emotions and actors across ages. I can say it’s quite lovely.” While he doesn’t speak Bengali, Joshi has been working hard on memorising and learning the meaning of his lines. He comments, “It’s an exciting time because the boundaries between TV, OTT and film and the boundaries between different languages’ actors, directors and writers, are merging.”
