Having spent nearly three decades in the film industry, Arshad Warsi has witnessed Bollywood evolve across generations. While he believes today’s actors are more focused and professional than ever, he also feels they are often impatient and don’t always appreciate the collaborative nature of filmmaking. Speaking to us, Warsi says the current generation is undoubtedly talented, but believes patience is one quality that’s gradually disappearing. “The younger lot, unfortunately, are very delicate. They’re in a hurry and they’re not very accommodating,” he says. “The good part is they’re professional, very serious, and very focused on what they want. So yes, there are pluses and minuses.”
For Arshad, who has had a packed release calendar with Welcome To The Jungle, Pritam and Pedro and now Dhamaal 4, the year has been a showcase of his versatility across genres. But even amid a busy phase, what strikes him is how dramatically the industry’s work culture has changed. Recalling an incident from the sets of Golmaal, Warsi shares a conversation with filmmaker Rohit Shetty that sums up the difference between his generation and today’s actors.
“We were shooting Golmaal and there were two sequences where Ajay Devgn and I had to do some really heavy stuff, hanging, falling, running at a fast pace on a treadmill. We’d finish our take, come back, sit on our chairs and wait for the next shot,” Arshad recalls, adding: “Rohit came and said, ‘It’s so shocking. I now see younger actors do one shot and then go for a massage, and we have to wait till their legs are feeling better before they come back.’ Here were two actors nearing our sixties, doing our job and simply waiting for the next setup. That, I think, is the difference between the younger lot and the older lot.”
Despite his criticism, Warsi is careful not to dismiss the younger generation entirely. He says their commitment and clarity are qualities worth appreciating. “They’re professional, very serious and very focused on what they want,” he says. “But they’re in a hurry,” adds the 58-year-old. For him, talent alone isn’t enough to build a lasting career. The ability to work well with others matters just as much. “I tell my kids that in our profession, you may not be the best actor, but if you’re easy to work with, you’ll work for a very long time. If you’re the best actor in the world but you’re difficult, people will tolerate you once, twice, maybe three times. After that they’ll say, ‘Enough.’ But if you’re easy to work with, people will keep calling you.”
Warsi also believes aspiring actors should understand filmmaking beyond their own performance. “You have to understand what a director is going through, what a producer is going through, what the other actors are going through. You cannot be ‘I, me and myself’. It doesn’t work like that,” he ends.