Naseeruddin Shah is often associated with some of the finest works of Indian cinema’s parallel movement, with films like Manthan, Sparsh, Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyoon Aata Hai, and Aakrosh. Yet, during the 1980s, he also ventured into more mainstream fare, one of the most notable being Pankaj Parashar’s Jalwa. Remarkably, Jalwa came at a time when Naseeruddin had just delivered the acclaimed Paar, for which he won the prestigious Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival for his portrayal of Naurangia. The transition from such a powerful, serious performance to a slick commercial action-comedy was seen as a shocking shift. Now, in a recent conversation with Sutradhar, director Pankaj Parashar opened up about how Naseeruddin came on board for Jalwa.
“Naseer didn’t have any work at the time, he had no films in hand when I signed him for Jalwa. And the funny thing is, he had just done Paar, and had won Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival, where Robert De Niro was the runner-up. That was the level he was at.” Parashar went on to recall a hilarious incident from a party, one that led to Shah’s unlikely casting.
“I had gone to a party, I saw Om Puri and a lot of others there, and sitting somewhere off to the left on the floor was Naseeruddin Shah, with a steel glass in his hand. I remember it like it was yesterday. He asked me, ‘Pankaj, what are you up to?’ I told him, ‘I’m making a film.’ He had done voiceovers for four episodes of my TV series Karamchand, so he said, ‘I like Karamchand. Now do something good.’ I told him, ‘I’m making Tarzan.’ He paused for a moment, probably sipping rum, and said, ‘You’re making Tarzan? Who’s in it?’ I said, ‘Hemant Birje.’ He said, ‘You’re going to work with Hemant Birje in Tarzan? You’re a gold medalist from film school, you’ve made Karamchand, and now you’re going to do this crap?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I’m doing it. I’ve signed Kimi Katkar.’ He said, ‘Don’t be an idiot.’ I said, ‘You keep drinking whatever it is you’re drinking, let me do my thing.’ Honestly, I was getting demoralised internally, because he was my senior, and more than that, he was Naseeruddin Shah. So I again told him, ‘I’m doing it.’ Then he said, ‘Do one thing — cast me as Tarzan.’ I said, ‘Naseer, please keep drinking what you’re drinking, you’re hallucinating.’ I left.”
He further recounted: “The next day I told Gul Anand (the producer), ‘That guy’s crazy, he said he wants to play Tarzan.’ Gul Anand heard this, stood up, and said, ‘Naseeruddin Shah can play Mickey Mouse if he wants, call him!’ I called him, and we went to meet him. And Naseer actually said, ‘I’m doing it. I’m joining Sea Rock (gym), and in six months I’ll build my body, you’ll see.’ When we came down from his house, Gul said, ‘I’m excited.’ Then I told him, ‘Maybe we shouldn’t make Tarzan.’ But Gul, being extra smart, said, ‘Let’s remake Beverly Hills Cop, throw in some Commando-style action, and flip the whole thing. And you bring in your Karamchand-style touch, plus Naseeruddin Shah building a body. That’ll get front-page coverage!’ So that was the plan, and then we wrote Jalwa.”
Jalwa, co-starring Archana Puran Singh, went on to become a huge box-office success. It was later remade in Telugu in 1988 as Trinetrudu by A Kodandarami Reddy, starring Chiranjeevi.
