Unlike other Bollywood stars, Adil Hussain lives in Delhi and drives a motorbike.
At 53, Adil Hussain is in a sweet spot. He is visiting Melbourne where his latest film Mukti Bhawan or Hotel Salvation, shown as part of the Indian Film Festival in Melbourne, has earned rave reviews.
He smiles on humbly when a gentleman tells him ‘every film student should see this film’.
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Hussain stars as Rajiv, a son to his dying father in the movie where he tries to help him achieve salvation in the holy city of Varanasi. Rajiv is obliged to leave the office behind for the unusual Hotel Salvation, life's final station. Modern mindset meets old in this uplifting if not slightly morbid comic drama. Rajiv and his father are forced to connect in ways they had forgotten in preparation for the final goodbye. The film talks about welcoming death with a matter-of-fact humour which induces tears and warms hearts.
Directed by Shubhashish Bhutiani and produced by Sanjay Bhutiani, the film stars Adil Hussain with Lalit Behl in the lead role.
“It is a film that explores the relationship between a father and son in his last days and also the layers of other relationships,” Hussain told SBS Hindi.
Mukti Bhawan that won the National Film Award – Special Jury Award / Special Mention (Feature Film) makes you laugh, cry, think and question.
“It has always been the story that draws me towards the film. No matter how long or short my character is in the film, the story has to be a strong one,” Adil says about how he picks his films.
Hailing from a small town in Assam to living in Delhi and teaching at his alma-matter, the National School of Drama (NSD), Adil didn’t have to travel to Mumbai to land his first film in Bollywood.
“The director of the film ‘Ishiqya’, Abhishek Choubey waited outside the classroom, I was teaching. We then sat down and he narrated the role and script. I liked it and said yes,” Adil says about how his Bollywood debut happened.
From Ishiqya till Mukti Bhawan, Adil’s journey as an actor has taken him to Bollywood and beyond. Adil has played some remarkable roles in Hindi films like Agent Vinod, English Vinglish, Tigers, Parched, Angry Indian Goddesses and Umrika among others. He has also acted in regional cinema – Tamil, Marathi, Bengali, Assamese as well as starred in Hollywood production, Life of Pi, Love Sonia and The Reluctant Fundamentalist and a British film, Feast of Varanasi.
“My upcoming film is a Norwegian film, ‘What will people say?’ which is also competing at the Toronto international film festival ” Adil shares talking about how a language is secondary when the script is strong.
Source: Public Domain
Source: Public Domain
Adil will also be seen next to Indian superstar Rajnikant in Robot 2.0 slated for release in 2018.
