Shreyas Talpade EXCLUSIVE Interview: On Zindaginama, Death Hoax, Marathi Cinema And More

Shreyas Talpade, who has worked in several popular Hindi and Marathi films, was recently seen in Zindaginama. In the Indian anthology, the actor played the role of a person suffering from Schizophrenia. It was quite a challenging role to portray for him on the screen. In an exclusive interview with Zoom, Shreyas Talpade opened up about his character in Zindaginama, mental health, delay in Emergency’s release, Marathi cinema, Atul Parchure and much more. Below are the excerpts.

“In Zindaginama, I play a person with schizophrenia. It was quite difficult and challenging to portray this one, considering the fact that this was the first time I was playing such a character on-screen. It is always very difficult to get into the skin and most importantly, in the minds of such characters to portray them on-screen, especially in a realistic and authentic manner. But if you have the right story, which is rightly told, a director who’s prepared and has done the homework well, and co-actors like Anjali Patil, the job is easier. Having said that, it’s the final approval of the audience that we all wait for after we perform our part. Now that we are getting some really amazing reviews, I am happy that whatever we thought and the way we executed the thought was right.”

“I think every generation has certainly a set of mental health issues that they need to deal with. The things that were there during our time when we were growing up were different and we tried to deal with them in the best manner possible. That time, there was much less awareness. Today, fortunately, there’s a lot more awareness and help surrounding mental health. But I think one of the major issues that they face today’s generation is that they are overprotected. We try to be extremely protective of them in every sphere of life and I don’t know if it is the right thing to do or not. But I personally feel it is one of the reasons they need to be a little stronger emotionally and mentally. In fact, their parents today are with them at every step of the way. So there’s a lot more awareness today and kids know that there is a certain help that they can approach and avail of. I also feel excess of anything can be dangerous. While social media has its own advantages, there are a lot of cons also associated with it. Till we achieve the right balance, it is always going to be detrimental. The two issues that I can see immediately are overprotectiveness and the ill effects of social media.”

“Rumours about your death or particular illness are always very upsetting, especially when they start affecting your family more than you. After a point, you detach yourself from that, and you don’t really take everything very personally, especially in our industry where you are continuously in the public eye. People tend to take things personally, and so if you detach yourself, that does help. There are different kinds of people in this world, and so who all will you stop? So it’s better you move away and clear your situation; make yourself very clear in front of fans and audience, and that’s essentially what matters at the end of the day. There will be people who will keep talking rubbish, and so it’s important to protect your family as much as possible from such rumours.”

“With Zindaginama, I guess this is my 5th release of the year. I do less work, but I only do stuff that appeals to me. Sometimes it does work and sometimes it doesn’t work. But the fact that I am still doing work here after 20 years in the industry speaks that I have been around for some time. Like I said, work has been limited and I go as per my gut. Sometimes it does work and sometimes it doesn’t. But yes, if you are particularly talking about doing big films and if that’s what you mean by being a part of Bollywood, yes, I haven’t done too many off-late. But yes, there are quite a few in the line-up that will start releasing next year. So probably then, you will see and perhaps change the question. Also, Bollywood hasn’t been unfair to me. It has been one of the best places to work, and I love the industry. I love being here with all of them.”

“One of my Marathi films with Mahesh Manjrekar was released at the beginning of this year. I have been doing regional films. Like I said, I have been selective and have done less work. Just to remind you, I had a heart attack last year, and so I am trying to recover from that and do less work right now. But yes, there are regional films also in the pipeline, which I will produce and act in.”

“Well, I am going to be making a ‘comeback’ in big films with Welcome: To The Jungle and Housefull 5 alongside Emergency that will release soon. Everything is ‘pun intended’ and should be taken as a joke and not seriously or personally.”