Indian-born British actor, Roshan Seth is best known for portraying ‘Jawahar Lal Nehru’ in Richard Attenborough’s classic ‘Gandhi’. He had essayed that same character earlier in ‘Bharat Ek Khoj’ (a 53 episode series that used to be shown on Doordarshan way back in 1988).
And even though he has worked in some Indian films such as ‘Guru’, ‘Monsoon Wedding’ and ‘Ek Tha Tiger’, Roshan Seth admits that he’s reluctant to work in Bollywood.
And the primary reason being he feels that its a bit disorganized compared to how Hollywood films are made. That’s why the Genie Award winning and BAFTA Award nominated actor says he’s really not inclined towards working in Bollywood.
Seth feels that the functioning of the hindi film industry is completely different to how it works in Hollywood, where Seth has done most of his work (‘Mississippi Masala’, ‘Not Without My Daughter’, ‘My Beautiful Laundrette’, ‘Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom’, ‘Such a Long Journey’, and ‘Street Fighter: The Movie’).
The 71-year-old actor says that, “In Bollywood, the actor would not know his dialogues when they begin shooting for the day. The bigger star he is, the lesser possibility of him having learnt his dialogues. I can’t do that.”
Roshan Seth, strongly feels that Bollywood should sort out certain things before it attempts to compete with other film industries around the world. He agrees that as far as the entertainment factor is concerned, the Indian film makers know how to get it right, but they also need to be clear about other fundamental questions pertaining to film-making.
And that’s probably one of the reasons, he thinks, that many Bollywood actors may find it difficult to get used to working in Hollywood, even though some of them are already working there.
Seth, who was born in Patna went ahead to hone his theatrical skills at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic art after studying history at St Stephen’s college in Delhi, also believes that acting schools helps an actor stand apart in the industry crowd.
‘Unless you are working with good actors and in good films with good scripts, you will struggle to explore your own abilities,’ Seth adds.
