Track-II Heroes

• Vinay Pathak: Bheja Fry, Khosla ka Ghosla
  
• Deepak Dobriyal: Omkara
  
• Rajat Kapur: Mixed Doubles, Bheja Fry
  
• Kay Kay: Hazaron Khwaishen Aisi, Life in a Metro
  
• Aditya Srivastava: Black Friday, Satya
  
• Abhay Deol: Honeymoon Travels, Socha Na Tha
  
• Prroshant Narayanan: Chhal, Waisa bhi Hota Hai Part ll
  
• Ranvir Shorey: Bheja Fry, Khosla ka Ghosla

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A plump, short and quirky income-tax officer with a penchant for Hindi film songs and a way of turning the world around him upside down, Bharat Bhushan is hardly the kind of character who'd cast a Harry Potter spell on the box-office. But India's favourite idiot of the moment has been drawing house-full shows, and the actor behind the role, Vinay Pathak, is still trying to come to terms with delivering the biggest sleeper hit of this year, the oddly-titled Bheja Fry, directed by Sagar Bellary. "The reaction is overwhelming," he says. "We could never have imagined it while making the film." In much the same way, the intense, powerful Irfan Khan didn't just essay an amazingly nuanced act as the gentle, introvert Bengali professor trying to put down roots in alien America, but The Namesake has also emerged as the highest grossing Indian-English film in the country, earning Irfan the title of 'Alternate Khan'.

Irfan and Vinay might be poles apart but they share a few things. They do not have the brawn of a Salman or the chocolatey good looks of Hrithik. You won't see them romancing the heroine, bursting into song 'n dance, or single-handedly fighting an army of villains. More actors than textbook heroes, they are cast in the mould of artistes like Balraj Sahni, Naseeruddin Shah, Manoj Bajpai, Pankaj Kapur and Om Puri, recognised more for their acting skills than for their glamour. And they aren't the only ones on the Bollywood horizon—actors like Ranvir Shorey, Deepak Dobriyal, Prroshant Narayanan, Aditya Srivastava, Abhay Deol, Rajat Kapur, Shiny Ahuja, Vijay Raaz, Atul Kulkarni, Shreyas Talpade are all bringing fresh vitality, vigour and also money and success to the alternate, small film movement in the country. Irfan and Kay Kay could well be called the big daddies of the lot, the former having already moved on to a bigger, international platform, with Namesake followed by Michael Winterbottom's film on Daniel Pearl, A Mighty Heart.

One reason why this creative crop is flourishing is because the space for small films is getting better defined in Bollywood. Not only are multiplexes offering a definite avenue of release, the films themselves—once experimental, often pretentious exercises—are establishing a better connect with the audience without necessarily compromising on their independent spirit.

"Opportunities for us are increasing," says Aditya Srivastava, seen recently as Badshah Khan, Tiger Memon's henchman on the run in Anurag Kashyap's Black Friday. "It's the best time we have had in 20 years. The days of B-grade Bollywood are over. Now it's either superstars like the Khans or the alternate stars," says actor-filmmaker Rajat Kapur.


Abhay Deol: Clinching roles: Socha Na Tha, Ahista Ahista, Ek Chaalis Ki Last Local Coming soon: Manorama 6 Feet Under, Meridien

Sunny and Bobby Deol's cousin Abhay should have ideally opened big with a dramatic action film, but he decided to make his debut with a sweet and simple romantic comedy, Socha Na Tha, directed by Imtiaz Ali. His subsequent efforts, be it Shivam Nair's Ahista Ahista or Reema Kagti's Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd, have been as offbeat. "I try to do films with great scripts but which are also entertaining, something audiences can relate to," he says.

Abhay is already being dubbed the new-age Amol Palekar. Much like him, the others too don't aspire to be larger than life, only real and compelling. "I'd be fooling myself to expect to be an SRK. My strength is to get under the skin of the character, make it real," says Vinay. "The traditional notion of heroism does not work any more. It's cool to be yourself, even if you're plump, with pimples on your face. We've all been losers at some point in time, when someone else has walked away with our ambitions, the bike, the chick or the money. Our characters embody that ordinariness."


Ranvir Shorey: Clinching roles: Khosla Ka Ghosla, Pyaar Ke Side Effects, Traffic Signal, Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd, Bheja Fry, Mixed Doubles. Coming soon: Mithya, I Am 24

Most of these actors come with a background in theatre and television and have an instinctive understanding of the film medium too, though for some acting happened by accident rather than choice. Abhay literally grew up on film sets; he'd have joined acting sooner rather than later. "I denied the pull for a long while. But then I couldn't see myself doing anything else," says he. Ranvir Shorey worked behind the camera as a producer and director at Channel V till the bosses decided to push him in front of the camera. "It took a while to get comfortable and even longer to explore more avenues as an actor," he says.

Vinay, hailing originally from Bhojpur in Bihar, studied in Ranchi and Allahabad before leaving for New York for an MBA. But theatre's pull proved stronger, and he chucked the management degree for a course in theatre. He and Ranvir have won recognition as TV's funniest comic duo, as Channel V veejays and on The Great Indian Comedy Show. Another management graduate, Kay Kay, left a coveted manager's job to join Mumbai's theatre circuit, and did a celebrated role as Gandhi's son Harilal in Feroz Khan's Mahatma Versus Gandhi. He also did TV (Pradhan Mantri) and films like Saeed Mirza's Naseem and Mahesh Mathai's Bhopal Express. Recognition came with Sudhir Mishra's Hazaron Khwaishen Aisi, and Ram Gopal Varma's Sarkar. This year, both his films, Honeymoon Travels and Life in a Metro, have pulled in the crowds.

Life took a different turn for Rajat Kapur as well who studied direction at FTII, assisted Kumar Shahani and Mani Kaul, and eventually got famous for his role as Preity's young uncle in Farhan Akhtar's Dil Chahta Hai, and a paedophile uncle in Mira Nair's Monsoon Wedding. He is now combining acting with direction, having made movies like Mixed Doubles and Raghu Romeo. "Acting happened because I was struggling for money as a filmmaker."


Prroshant Narayanan: Clinching roles: Chhal, Waisa Bhi Hota Hai Part II, Shadows of Time. Coming soon: Mr Singh/Mrs Mehta, Bombil and Beatrice, Via Darjeeling

Money wasn't the issue for Prroshant; he had done innumerable TV serials before getting noticed for his mercurial, unpredictable energy in Hansal Mehta's Chhal and Shashanka Ghosh's Waisa Bhi Hota Hai Part II. "The idea is not to go looking for work even if the money is great. I know the work will come to me. My choice of role is determined by the script—whether I get Rs 2 for it or Rs 5," he says.

Aditya Srivastava did a six-year stint at Delhi's Sri Ram Centre for Performing Arts before coming to Mumbai in 1995. Since then, he has acted in Govind Nihalani's Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa, Ram Gopal Varma's Satya and Mani Ratnam's Dil Se, among a host of other films. His haunted, edgy performance in Black Friday apart, Aditya is most recognised for his TV series CID. Much like him, Deepak Dobriyal, who got rave reviews as the bridegroom in Vishal Bhardwaj's Omkara, worked for seven years in Delhi theatre groups Act One and Asmita, did telefilms and diploma films for FTII students in which he truly explored his range as an actor. For him it has been a long haul on the road to success. "I used to enjoy the struggle, I knew some day things will turn for the better," he says.


Aditya Srivastava: Clinching roles: Satya, Black Friday Coming soon: Gulaal, Raakh

Success, however, hasn't dented these actors' determination not to get slotted or compromise their artistic integrity, even if it means saying no to lucrative offers. "After Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Har Dil Jo Pyaar Karega, I was being offered cameos," says Vinay. "I deliberately stayed away from them even if it meant going back to TV for the bread and butter. " After starting off with films like Ek Chhotisi Love Story and Freaky Chakra, Ranvir saw a huge slump when exciting work stopped coming his way. He shot TV promos for survival and preferred to wait for the right roles. "You have to make sacrifices in terms of money and choices. I don't want to get typecast and jaded; my sensibility doesn't allow me to be totally commercial," he says.

It's this kind of commitment to the alternate that is lending momentum to the indie film movement. Many of these actors are willing to be part of ensemble shows rather than stand out as individuals hogging the best lines and scenes. Which is why filmmakers trying to tell new stories in newer styles are banking on them. "They allow you to experiment with story ideas and approaches, there's credibility associated with them. Bigger players are scared to take the risk, while these guys are willing to go the extra two steps, give time to the project," says Navdeep Singh who is working with Abhay and Vinay in his noir film set in Rajasthan, Manorama 6 Feet Under. "A lot of actors/filmmakers are working in the small-film scene only because they are waiting for their big break, and they don't have that kind of commitment to alternate cinema. But Prroshant takes such pride in his work, one suspects him of reverse snobbery. I think he actually has a problem with big films and big banners. I guess that's the attitude required to make indie films or else we'll end up making smaller versions of 'big banner' films that are not truly independent in spirit," says Pravesh Bhardwaj, who's directing him in Mr Singh/Mrs Mehta.


Deepak Dobriyal: Clinching roles: Omkara. Coming soon: Gulaal, Shaurya, 1971

Chameleon-like, this band of Bollywood boys wants to do roles that push them into extending their range as actors. Thus Prroshant plays a double role in Kaizad Gustad's Bombil and Beatrice. He's leaving soon for Kerala to learn kalaripayattu for an Indo-Japanese co-production directed by Bharatbala, in which he stars alongside Kamalahaasan, and also has Arindam Nandi's Via Darjeeling lined up.

Abhay Deol has an interesting film, Vinod Mitra's Meridien, up his sleeve, as well as the lead role in Manorama... Aditya will play both hero and villain, one in Anurag Kashyap's Gulaal, the other in Hansal Mehta's Raakh. Rajat plays a '50s superstar in Sudhir Mishra's Khoya Khoya Chand, and has diverse roles in Saurabh Shukla's I Am 24, Satish Kaushik's Tere Sang and Jaideep Verma's Halla. His own film Mithya is round the corner and he has signed a five-film contract with Pritish Nandy Communications, one of which he'll direct and the rest, line-produce.

Ranvir speaks for this entire breed when he says, "The biggest delight is to be able to pick parts that are interesting." He plays the lead in Rajat's Mithya, a film about truth and honesty, and he is a struggling actor in Shukla's I Am 24. Vinay will cover the entire gamut—a gambler in Shriram Raghavan's radical thriller Johnny Gaddar, a gangster's henchman in Mithya, a corrupt cop in Manorama... and a detective in Via Darjeeling.

Ranvir and Vinay are also part of the ensemble cast (with Raghuvir Yadav, Kunal Kapoor, Akhilendra Mishra, Yashpal Yadav and Konkana Sen) in Aaja Nachle, a Yashraj film directed by cinematographer Anil Mehta which also brings Madhuri Dixit back to Bollywood. "Despite this being a mainstream film, no one is in it without a reason," says Vinay. "I'm game for any film and filmmaker who gets me an exciting ride." The rest would say amen to that.