[Reader-list] Actor Sanjay Suri talks about his lost homeland Kashmir

[Aditya Raj Kaul]

Sanjay Suri: The Journey
Home<http://news.avstv.com/2009/08/10/sanjay-suri-the-journey-home/>
*Link - http://news.avstv.com/2009/08/10/sanjay-suri-the-journey-home/
August 10th, 2009

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*by E. Nina Rothe*



Actor Sanjay Suri has never been afraid to take on controversial roles. In
his breakthrough performance as the HIV-infected leading man in ‘My Brother
Nikhil’ (http://www.mybrothernikhil.com/) he faced head on the unthinkable
for an actor — to be henceforth typecast as the anti-hero. In the Nandita
Das-directed ‘Firaaq’(http://www.firaaqthefilm.com/), once again Suri played
a character whom the audience could have easily found unlikable — with such
grace and profound understanding that, in the process, he forced everyone to
rethink their own definition of courage.



Piyush Jha’s release ‘Sikandar’ (
http://broadband.bigflix.com/bigflicks/faces/Sikandar/index.html) opens on
August 21st worldwide and for Sanjay Suri the film has been a very personal
journey back to Kashmir, the place where he was born but can no longer call
home. It is impossible to discuss Suri’s complex character in the film
without giving a great deal of the plot away and that is something I have
vowed never to do. So instead, I’d like to share a stirring talk I had with
the handsome, brilliant and charmingly candid Sanjay Suri on what it was
like to film in Kashmir, what his views are on the volatile region and what
will be some of his upcoming projects.


*What was it like to return to Kashmir after so many years and so much
turmoil?*



I am at a loss of words when I have to answer this question. A feeling that
I may not be able to express and articulate. But I shall try my best to put
forward my inner most thoughts.


 It was like Going back home without a place to stay!!!


I was visiting “home” after 18 long years. I wonder why I still call it “My
home”. Maybe because no other place could give me that feeling of belonging,
that identification after having being called a migrant somewhere and a
North Indian in another place, sometimes even a Refugee in my own country.
But that still does not answer my own question of why the Valley feels like
home. Is it home or is it just memories of home, my childhood, my family, my
orchids, my lakes, my rivers, my play ground, my chinars, my autumn and the
spring?


 I don’t know if I was happy to go back after 18 years or not. Maybe I
should have let it remain in my memories, a lost chapter in our lives. Or
was I scared that I might not like it now because all was in the past? The
association is in my mind and all those people don’t live there anymore.
It’s not the same anymore. That playground had no players I knew.

Maybe a catharsis was waiting to happen but is it that simple?


I believe and know that nature moves ahead and one should not look back but
then that “back” is where our identity comes from. The past is important
because it has prepared you for the future. And visiting that past is like
finding your foot prints in the cold breezy desert sand.


 I was hoping I would find my way back only to return stronger and happier,
but it’s not that simple.


*What did you notice as the most dramatic change there? And what had
remained the same?*



Visually, Kashmir looked like a Beautiful Widow who had lost her color,
vibrancy, smile and had an expression of irreversible loss. So much has
happened there in the last 20 years that every structure has a story to
tell. Twenty years is a long time, after the mass migration of Hindus in
early Nineties, the Valley was left with just one culture and faith. To me a
beautiful garden needs to have all kinds of flowers and not just one kind.
That is one change which is so evident and sad. And to me, nothing is the
same.


*What was the reason why your family left the state?*



One unfortunate morning in 1990, my father was shot dead by terrorists at
our home in Srinagar. His only fault? That he was a Hindu living in Kashmir,
as many of our family’s generations before him. We had to leave lock, stock
and barrel. Between that year and 1991, Kashmir witnessed ethnic cleansing
and we had to leave the Valley.


*During your journey back, did you get to spend time in your actual
birthplace, Srinagar? *



Initially I was reluctant but then did go to my house in Srinagar. It was
very difficult as all the memories came back. Some other family lives there
now and they were sensitive enough to let me absorb and spend some moments
there. I went to see my school, my playgrounds, a local club, my favorite
ice cream parlor and my farm. Some old waiters at the club recognized me in
a second, they hugged me and started howling, as earlier they hadn’t even
gotten the opportunity to condole my father’s death. I drove around the city
and tried to show my wife my childhood.


*What were some of your more positive impressions while there?*



I hope I am right in saying that people seemed fed up with this prolonged
violence and terrorism. Civilians who once supported the separatist
organizations seem to have realized it was a huge mistake and all they have
got in return was misery. While the world was progressing, Kashmir was
burning. Education system, civic facilities, infrastructure, economy, human
life, all has suffered. So finally it seems they have woken up. At least I
hope so!


*And were there times when it felt impossibly hard to even be in Kashmir for
you?*



Yes many times in a day. Too much was bottled up inside me and sometimes
escapism seemed to be the best thing. So there were moments when I would
want to catch the next flight out and leave it all behind but then my roots
would keep pulling me back*. *

A lost era cannot be brought back and a new Kashmir cannot be beautiful
without all kinds of flowers — cultures.* *



*I believe the answers lie far from our grasp, but what do you see
personally as a solution for the troubles of the state?*



Like you say, there are no simple answers. But I do feel an adequate
government and a strong political will is the need of the hour. Also, to
involve people from regions of Jammu and Ladhakh in deciding the fate of the
state is key as often they are left out.


*After all is said and done, the daily hardships of Kashmir, or the
cutthroat dealings of the Indian film industry?*



Haha! At least in the film industry one knows who the competition is or who
we are fighting against but in Kashmir one never knew the enemy, who could
be living next to you*.*



*While filming, what were you reading or even listening to?*



To be honest, I was just absorbing me being there and remembering my
childhood so there was no time to listen to or read anything. In fact I was
inspired to write but couldn’t do so either.



*You have always chosen unconventional roles in your career and your role in
this film is no exception. Without giving any of the plot away, what drew
you to this character?*



Ironically, when I left Kashmir I hated politicians and now as a
professional actor I am playing one. I really liked the human element in the
script. A story like ‘Sikandar’ could be set in any area which has been
hostile for years. I had never played a character like this before. Mukhtaar
is charismatic, charming and shrewd. A reformed militant leader, that gives
him many layers to play with and I enjoyed that part of the character.


thanks

-- 
Aditya Raj Kaul

Freelance Writer
Cell -  +91-9873297834

Blog: http://activistsdiary.blogspot.com/