The monk in Ship of Theseus and Anukul Guha in Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!. That’s how Neeraj Kabi shot into people’s attention.
But the half-Oriya, half-Parsi actor got his head start in Oriya cinema, when he starred in the National Award winning film, The Last Vision (1997).
Flush with critical acclaim, Kabi then began auditioning for parts in Mumbai, hoping to land a plum project in Hindi films. Thirteen years later, when filmmaker Anand Gandhi called him for a role, Kabi refused.
By then he was disillusioned with the Mumbai film industry, which had been offering him insignificant parts. But Gandhi persuaded the actor to watch his short films Right Here Right Now and Continuum. This changed everything.
Ship of Theseus was released in 2013, winning the Best Feature Film award at the 61st National Film Awards. A homecoming of sorts for Kabi.
His next film, Monsoon Shootout (2013) was well-received at the Cannes FilmFestival and got a glowing HollywoodReporter review, which called it “a cunningly intricate” film. But it hasn’t got a release in the country.
Next, Kabi starred as Gandhi in Shyam Benegal’s mini-series titled Samvidhaan (2014). It was telecast on Rajya Sabha TV, where it might have gone largely unnoticed had it not been also put online.
Now, after Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!, he returns to the screen in the soon-to-be-released Talvar. Asked if this is the best phase in his life, Kabi said in an interview, “No, but I am getting close to the kind of filmmakers I want to work with, and the space I want to be in. I don’t want to see my posters everywhere, to have people running to take my autographs, I have never aspired for that. I have not made it yet, I’ll know when I get there.”
His future projects are taking him further afield, to international films as well as to Bengali cinema. He is currently filming Viceroy’s House, a Gurinder Chadha film to be released next year. And he will be playing a disillusioned art director in Aditi Roy’s Abchhaya.
(Photo credit: IANS)
