When I was in Mumbai, India working on various projects earlier in the year,
I have had the pleasure to meet up with various actors, directors, and performers. Recently, I caught up with Burjor Dustoor who turned to acting as a full-time profession two years ago. This year he has already had one release with two more films coming out later this year and one more, currently in production.
Interviewer – Harish Rao (HR)
Actor – Burjor Dustoor (BD)
1. (HR) – When did you get started in acting, has this been a passion for all of your life or did you just get interested in acting now?
(BD) – I was always interested in acting and have been doing ‘Theatre` since my school days. Right from my school days, I have had a flair for Acting, Elocution, Debates as well as Public Speaking. Have represented my School as well as College in all the above at Inter-school as well as Inter-collegiate competitions. Have done numerous plays during school, college and after college for nearly 2 years for various professional Theatre Groups in Bombay. Have acted in works of Shakespeare, Neil Simon, James Matthew Barrie, as well as Indian playwrights like Imtiaz Khan. Though most plays were in English, have acted in few Hindi Plays as well as a couple of Gujarati plays.
2.(HR) – You have an interesting background before turning to acting working on various productions can you elaborate on this for us?
(BD) – Yes, I do have a rather Interesting & Unusual background, before turning to acting. Even though acting has been an important part of my life, my childhood passion, which has not faded to this day, has been flying and I`m a qualified Commercial Pilot, with over 300 Hours of Flying Time to my credit with 150 Hours of Multi-Engine Flying Time. Have also been an instructor, training Pilots for their Ground Studies & Flying Exams.
In addition to this, before I took up acting in movies, I did Film Production for almost 2 years, assisting different Directors with the Production of their Films. Have undertaken Pre-Productions tasks, Location Hunting, Production work during filming, post-production work including sitting for Editing Sessions & finally also handled the Pre-release publicity. Have also produced 3 Music Videos for these films.
3.(HR) – Why the sudden change to acting as your primary focus, any reason in particular?
(BD) – Well, for certain reasons beyond my control, my flying career didn`t materialize in the form of an Airline Flying Job.
As mentioned before, I had been doing a lot of Theatre in the past and I have always had a certain natural flair for acting. However, even though doing theatre is very fulfilling to any good actor, it isn`t enough to earn a good living, especially in India. I wanted to do something more, achieve greater heights as well as earn a better living. Hence I decided to get into movies, full-time.
4.(HR) – Most aspiring Indian actors in America have to go through a lot of struggle, I am sure it is the same for Indian actors such as yourself trying to break in and find a niche. Can you describe the process a little bit?
(BD) – Yes, it has been quite a struggle, but less than what I imagined it to be, before I started getting into movies full-time. Since I have been associated with the movie business in various other capacities in the past, I have been fortunate enough to have been in touch with people in the film business in Bombay over the past few years. Moreover, in my case, being overweight as I am, has been a positive or plus point for me, as far as getting roles is concerned, because there are very few people in the Film Industry in India today, who fit my build, face & character.
5.(HR) – What type of roles are you getting, and what type of roles do you aspire to get in the next few years?
(BD) – I am doing comedy as well as villain roles. My face is very adaptable and can easily suit a large range of characters. My last 3 movies one of which is released this March called "KARAM", has me in the role of the right-hand man or rather lead Hitman of an Underworld Don. In my next movie called "FAREB", which is to be released shortly, I play a slightly mildly comical character, who is the Owner/CEO of a rapidly declining Advertising Agency, on the verge of a takeover. In my movie, to be released in the 3rd Quarter of this year, called "CHOCOLATE", I once again play the role of a Rival Gangster, a short but important role.
6.(HR) – Are you getting your roles in Mumbai through an agent or do you get them more through your own perseverance. Which gets you more roles right now?
(BD) – At the moment, I have not appointed any agent, secretary or manager. I however have currently listed myself with a few Casting
Co-ordinators in Bombay, who have my photographs on file with them
But the work that I get from them is mostly Ad-Films or Commercials.
7.(HR) – What films do you have coming out this year and when are they releasing?
(BD) – My 1st movie this year called "KARAM", which is a gangster film, released on March 11, 2005. The 2nd movie "FAREB", in which I`m the CEO of an Ad-Agency, is slated for release sometime during End-May or Early-June. The 3rd Movie "CHOCOLATE" is slated for release sometime during the 3rd quarter of this year.
8.(HR) – I know that you know some of the same directors etc, that I do, do you feel that establishing "relationships" is a key factor for success in Bollywood?
(BD) – I believe that establishing relations isn`t ‘the` most important factor but nevertheless, an important factor for success, not only in Bollywood, but also in Hollywood as well as in any successful career, throughout the world. One`s acting Talent, of course is a major factor to determine one`s success in this industry, coupled with a bit of luck too. Being in the right place, at the right time is also an important factor in determining how one`s acting career will shape-up, especially in India, where due to an excess of population, there is no dearth of competition in each and every field. For this very reason, I believe that Patience and Perseverance is also a very important factor for success, especially in India. As Thomas Edison once said, "Many of life`s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up".
Yes, I do share a good rapport with a few movie directors, who I happen to know since a few years. I`m also fortunate to have worked with good directors just now, who apart from being good directors, are good human beings as well. It`s been a real pleasure, lots of fun as well as a good learning experience for a newcomer like me in the film world, to work with them. Also, the entire cast & crew of all my movies shared a wonderful chemistry, which I feel is very important for the success of any movie.
9.(HR) - Do you have plans to act in what they call "parallel cinema" (Independent films) in Mumbai and how is your approach in interfacing the filmmakers of parallel cinema different than Bollywood?
(BD) – Yes, I would like to do good roles in "Parallel Cinema".
It`s important for any Character Actor, such as myself to do a large variety of roles. Limiting oneself to only a certain genre`of film or
only certain types of roles in selected movies, does little to enhance one`s career, as an actor. Moreover, parallel cinema has now begun
to find a good niche for itself in the Indian Film Industry.
I would love to be in one of Mira Nair`s Films or do a role in a Shyam Benegal Film. One of my favorite actors in the Indian Film Industry and someone who I will always look up to is Naseeruddin Shah. Naseer has played a plethora of different characters successfully, in a humongous
number of films (Bollywood, Hollywood, Parallel Indian Cinema as well as Foreign Films), spanning a very memorable & successful career, which continues to be so, till this day.
Who knows, if things change for Indian Actors abroad, especially in Hollywood and my luck holds out, I would love to be part of a good Hollywood Production. But for the moment, I`m happy, if I can establish myself as a good character-actor in the Indian Film Industry.
10.(HR) - Where do you see yourself five years from now.
(BD) – Hopefully as a well recognized & well established character-actor in Bollywood as well as in Parallel Indian Cinema, which includes Indian Directors from Abroad, as well.
Not only well recognized by just the film fraternity but recognized by the Common Man on the streets as well, as a good & successful actor.
By the Grace of God, my own acting ability, hard work & some ‘Good Luck`, I would consider myself fairly successful, if in the next couple of years, I reach a stage in my acting career, where Directors & Producers come to me with roles for their films, instead of me being on the look-out for film projects.
Each and every human being can be a success if you can reach a stage in your life where you absolutely love what you do and not just simply do it, for the sake of doing something or earning a living.
I have always loved and enjoyed acting and I do believe that this love for my profession is the key factor that will take me places in this career.
I end in the words of a famous Hollywood Star, namely Warren Beatty who once said and I quote, "You`ve achieved success in your field when you don`t know whether what you`re doing is work or play".