Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma’s Sarkar remains one of the iconic films from mainstream Bollywood. It was inspired from the Hollywood classic Godfather and it starred Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Kay Kay Menon, Katrina Kaif, among others. The movie completed 19 years last month on July 1.
The film is also known for a group of baddies who gang up against Subhash Nagre aka Sarkar (Amitabh Bachchan). One of them was the character of Rashid played convincingly by Zakir Hussain, who was a newcomer back then. During an exclusive chat with Bollywood Hungama, the actor looked back at the shoot of the film.
“It was a struggle period for me,” said Hussain. “There was a strong desire to get a good opportunity. At that time, Ram Gopal Varma’s company was the only one that was giving opportunities to newcomers. I was hopeful that I would get in somehow. Before him, there were 1-2 banners that used to give a chance to new people.”
On how he got the role, the actor said, “I had done a film called Ek Hasina Thi (2004). I had one scene in that movie. He (RGV) saw that scene and called me and had a conversation. I was selected. He then trained me for 4-5 months in his own way. There was a lot of hard-work with regards to what level of performance he wanted for that character.”
Despite getting selected for the pivotal role, the road wasn’t smooth for Hussain. He said that the film’s producers didn’t want a newcomer to play an antagonist against someone like Amitabh Bachchan. “In a way, he (RGV) fought with the producers saying that he only wants me for the role. He said that if I won’t be in the film, someone else would be but it will always be a newcomer. Producers were like, Bachchan sahab hai toh ek naya ladka kaise hoga? In a way, it was like a blind gamble, which worked,” laughed Hussain.
Varma also became like a guide for Hussain after they shot Sarkar together. The actor recalled a funny incident with RGV before the release of the film. “I asked RGV what should I do next. He said, ‘Don’t do anything. Let this film release’. After the release, I asked him the same. He said, ‘Do some work, what else?’ (laughs) He said I should do films with good director, production and role,” he said.
Hussain revealed that he kept getting villainous roles after Sarkar. The shackles were finally broken for him by filmmaker Rajkumar Santoshi. “Rajkumar Santoshi sahab also gave me a villainous role but it was also comic in Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani. Then people came to know that I can do comedy as well, so I started getting comic roles,” he said.
Zakir Hussain will next be seen in the ZEE5 web series Murshid alongside Kay Kay Menon and Tanuj Virwani. The show will stream from August 30 onwards.
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