Naseer, Shabana to act together again

If cine buffs were asked to vote for Bollywood’s most enthralling performing jodi, it would have to be Naseeruddin Shah and Shabana Azmi. Together they delighted audiences and changed the face and quality content of Hindi cinema in the 1970s with masterpieces like Paar, Sparsh, Khandhar, Masoom, Ek Pal and Khamosh.

Then the two stalwarts drifted apart, especially after Naseer in one of his humourously unguarded moments said ‘Shabana was completely in love with herself.’ The last film the dynamic duo worked on was Gulzar’s unreleased film Libaas in 1988.

While Shabana never stopped craving to act again with her favourite co-star, Naseer was far more cautious. “I can’t do just any film with Shabana because she’s keen to work with me. The vehicle has to justify our collective presence,” Naseer had said.

That vehicle is finally here. Shabana and Naseer get together after 19 years in debutant director Rohit Roy’s 10-minute film Rice Plate. It will form part of a series called Dus Kahaniyaan. The film being shot today, goes into the touchy topic of the communal divide in Mumbai.

Producer Sanjay Gupta said, “Rohit doesn’t know how lucky he is. All these years I’ve waited to direct Naseer and Shabana, and never got the chance. I started my career as an assistant to Pankuj Parasher in Jalwa where Naseer was the hero. Today I’m producing a film where he stars. Wow!”

Shabana, who plays an orthodox Tamilian Brahmin in Rice Plate, has been preparing for the past two weeks by spending time with Tamilian women to learn their mannerisms. This isn’t the first time she plays a Tamilian. She played one in Mahesh Dattani’s Morning Raga as well.

Naseer plays a Muslim man. The film, to be shot on the Bandra railway station, is about a life-changing chance encounter between two strangers from totally different cultural zones. “What’s truly remarkable about this short film is that neither Naseer nor Shabana speak a word in the film,” said producer Sanjay Gupta.