American-Indian director Amit Kumar has got reclusive actor Victor Banerjee on board for his independent production, Blemished Light. The actor lets loose about the money culture in Hindi cinema
American-Indian director Amit Kumar has got reclusive actor Victor Banerjee on board for his independent production, Blemished Light. The actor lets loose about the money culture in Hindi cinema
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What draws you out of your home in Mussoorie to act in films intermittently?
The increasing cost of LPG gas. That's what accounts for a whole lot of rubbish that I prance numbly through and enjoy immensely. But, thank heavens, I do get offered some meaningful cinema that is an inspiration to work for, and in. For instance, I was inspired by Blemished Light because of the sincerity of its writer and director, R Amit Kumar and his technical professionalism. But, above all, he seemed like a 'gentleman' I could trust.
Blemished Light is a poetic title; what character do you play?
The film is about the nouveau imperialism that engulfs us all. The powerful have no more land to grab and have been compelled by historical and social circumstance to grant sovereignty to the oppressed in Africa, West Asia and South Asia. But the subtler form of dominance in terms of conditional aid or the imposition of sanctions that cripple regimes by depriving aid to the sick and little children is a war that the youth find difficult to stomach.
Like in Kashmir, and in our tribal belts, violent oppression creates a retaliatory force of young men, and even children, who are brainwashed into becoming fanatical and unreasonable animals of vengeance. It is difficult to preach peace to those who have witnessed gruesome murder and shocking rape enacted in front of them.u00a0
My character is that of an old man who understands the roots of violent reactions but wants to prove that bloodshed achieves nothing more than more bloodshed, and perpetuates a mindset of hatred that only devalues the cause behind an uprising.
The subject deals with the issue of identity and discrimination. Have you ever faced that?
I was slotted as a non-Urdu-speaking Bengali in my very first film, Shatranj ke Khilari by a bunch of experts in Bombay whom Satyajit Ray was relying on for advice on nuances and his script's translation. The Mumbai lobby refused to believe I was an 'actor' and cornered Ray into putting me through tests to prove I could deliver. Thank God I passed. On the first day of filming, however, a bunch of bloodthirsty hounds whose names I shall withhold simply because the affair is now irrelevant and inconsequential, were frothing around the camera, clinging to my every utterance to be able to slam the we-told-you book in Ray's face and down my unlearned throat. When the shot was over, their jaws fell limply to the stage floor and Ray and I leapt up in provincial and parochial triumph.u00a0 But in reality, I have never been discriminated against nor have I seen it inflicted upon anybody elseu00a0-- except of course the poor extras who are still treated like slumdogs of the industry. 
Since you have been associated with human rights and labour causes, do you harbour a will to fight for issues of 'identity' and discrimination?
In today's world, a new standard of ethics has emerged. The respect you receive from a production is proportionate to what you are charging as your remuneration. Today, no one respects age, experience, talent or discipline; they all mouth niceties and then genuflect in front of 'stars' in direct proportion to the money they ask for and receive.
A real pity that, but look around you at society in general and I don't think our industry can be singled out as being any different from the way social values are eroding all around us.
However, in the film world, I dare say Bollywood is probably the greatest victim of this cultural malaise. Marathi films, Bengal, Assam, Manipur, Madras, Kerala and even the Bhojpuri world, still hang on to a few traditional values and give grey-haired veterans the time of day.
Why do you withdraw from the city and live in a hill station?
I am not a social being. I pretend very well to be one. I am a loner and have no problem living with myself, by myself. Above all, there is nothing in the world that gives me more pleasure and happiness than the smells, sounds and visuals of the abundant natural world that surround us. I also find the people of the hills from Garhwal via Darjeeling to the North-East where I grew up, the most uncomplicated, non-devious, honest and fun-loving creatures on earth. The rarefied atmosphere of the mountains breeds few mischief-makers and makes its folk uncorrupt lovers of life.
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