Mr Gravitas: Adil Hussain's journey from stand-up comic to standout actor

Hussain has in recent years further cemented his reputation as a crossover artiste who is as sought after abroad as in India

Over three decades ago in Assam, a lanky youth mimicking leading men of Bollywood such as Amitabh Bachchan and Shatrughan Sinha was one of the highlights of a popular stand-up comedy group that went by the name of Bhaya Mama. The satirical group was a rage among listeners in the state in an era of audio cassettes. And until six of its members met with a tragic end in an accident in 1999, they were a much-loved troupe whose skits at the seasonal Bihu functions had audiences in splits. One of the few survivors from that group, and also its lead voice, is Adil Hussain, the versatile actor whose antithetical persona on the big screen compared to his 1980s’ avatar is a testament to the magic that is acting.

Hussain, whose Delhi Crime Story will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival starting next month in Utah, has in recent years further cemented his reputation as a crossover artiste who is as sought after abroad as in India. Having made a mark in theatre with years of performances and teaching, Hussain emerged as a serious film actor at the turn of this decade, essaying roles in multiple languages including Hindi, English, French, Norwegian, Tamil, Bengali, Marathi and Malayalam.

Earlier this year, with What Will People Say, Hussain achieved a rare feat — he became the first Indian to win the best actor honour at the Amanda Awards, or the Norwegian national awards. The film is also Norway’s official entry to the Oscars.

“Art is supposed to cross political and social boundaries,” he says. He is deeply impressed by the inclusiveness of Norway and wishes other countries, especially India, are inspired to similarly widen their scope for artistes by not getting constrained with political considerations such as nationality. He points out that a personal favourite that he acted in, Sunrise (2014), was not eligible to compete in the National Awards because it was directed by Indian-born French national Partho Sen-Gupta. “In comparison, Norway’s gesture is incredibly generous. It also says a lot about how art could be treated.”

“I had never been to Norway before. I saw a couple of movies that were nominated (for the Amanda awards) and they are extremely good. So I was not even expecting a nomination,” he adds.

Based in Delhi for the best part of the last three decades, Hussain was born in Goalpara in western Assam in 1963. He was the youngest of seven children. He was just 13 when he decided to be an actor and plunged into theatre. And though he left for Guwahati to attend college, he didn’t try to finish it. Like a typical young moviegoer of the time, he idolised the likes of Bachchan and Dharmendra. His acting ambitions were nurtured by local writer and dramatist Rukmal Hazarika and mime artiste Dhrubajit Kishore Choudhury, who formed Bhaya Mama. 

He experienced “the magic of time standing still” the first time in 1971 when he performed in a play titled The Cap Maker and the Sailor. A full-length play, Bhaya Mama’s Bancharamor Bagan, came next, followed by a six-year association with the group.

The ’80s were a turbulent period after the six-year Assam agitation that began in 1979 roiled the political waters in the state. Hussain was then in Class IX. He was never conscious of his Muslim identity while growing up, but believes that over time linguistic and religious ties among people in Assam have been somewhat strained.

“School was shut for one-and-a-half years. Initially, I participated in the protest marches but then I thought my job was to practise art [besides his interest in theatre, he played the guitar],” he says.

A still from What Will People Say

This year, a niece of Hussain was among the four million people in Assam whose names did not make it to the draft of the updated National Register of Citizens, a politically fraught process that could likely render millions stateless. Looking back, Hussain feels since the ’80s, successive governments seeking to occupy power in the state have created a social, political and religious muddle in which thousands have lost their lives. “Linguistic and religious tensions were there then, and they are there now. The stories haven’t changed, only the actors have,” he says.

In 1990, Hussain enrolled in the National School of Drama (NSD) in Delhi. By now he had acted in a few Assamese movies but wasn’t satisfied with his work. “NSD is where I was reborn. Before that I wasn’t an actor but just a performer,” he says. “Meeting stalwarts like Arjun Raina, Robin Das, Khalid Tyabji, Nibha Joshi, Naseeruddin Shah, Barry John and Anamika Haksar opened up my imagination.”

In 1995, he embarked on a two-year motorcycle tour of the country with his mentor, Tyabji, to understand the many layers of Indian society — metro, urban, semi-urban, rural and tribal.

Four years later, he was invited to act in a production by a dance theatre company in Amsterdam. He began to teach there. Then came Othello, a production by an English theatre company, where he played the lead role that drew attention to his performance. And though he had acted in a few movies earlier, filmmakers abroad started noticing him after an Italian production, Gangor (2010), based on a story by Mahasweta Devi.

“In films where they needed an Indian character, they would look for someone who can do realistic or naturalistic acting. But we don’t see that too often in Indian films,” says the actor, who does not have an agent pushing his career. 

Life of Pi (2012), directed by Oscar winner Ang Lee, further boosted his credibility as an actor. In a matter of years, with movies such as Kaminey, Ishqiya, The Reluctant Fundamentalist and the Sridevi-starrer English Vinglish, he quickly became a familiar face despite being a late entrant to mainstream cinema.

Gauri Shinde, the director of English Vinglish, says she was looking for a strong actor to be cast as the husband of Sridevi’s character. “He has this raw quality and gravitas in him, and he just seemed right for the role. He is a terrific actor, a great team player, has no ego, and is most easy to work with,” she says. She describes Hussain as one of those rare people who can move easily from one role to another. “He is solely interested in the craft and doesn’t take anything for granted.”

For Hussain, his journey has been an endless quest to understand what acting is all about. “In acting, I am the player and the instrument rolled into one,” he explains, adding that after looking for answers in the West and failing to be satisfied, he has realised how India with its traditional Vedic, yogic or Sufi branches of spirituality drew him closer to its culture and philosophy.

“Questions such as where we come from led me to understand my body, emotions, relationships with art, people, family, nation, and so on. These are the fundamental questions the father of modern acting, (Konstantin) Stanislavski, also asked,” he says.

Hussain wishes to do more theatre and less movies, but concedes that sometimes he chooses films because he needs money as well to look after his family. He and his wife, Kristen Jain, also a theatre actor, have an eight-year-old son, Kabir.

As he seeks to find roles with greater depth in them, he explains that his attempt is to make people empathise with the darkest of characters. “My job is to bring people with contrary views together.”