Saqib Saleem’s rooted, focused and emotion-driven performance as Mohinder Amarnath in 83 has been getting the young actor high praise. A few days after the Kabir Khan film, chronicling India’s remarkable victory at the 1983 World Cup, released, t2 chatted with Saqib over a Zoom call to know what went into playing one of the most important parts in the film, his rapport with ‘Jimmy sir’ and how he’s now a clutter-free person.
Your performance as Mohinder Amarnath in 83 is being hailed as your best yet....
There have been lots of great reviews and some really nice things being said both about the film and the performances. My biggest reward was when Mohinder Amarnath himself watched the film. I was very anxious as to how he would react. Right after the screening, I went up to him and I couldn’t even look him in the eye (smiles). I had tears in my eyes and he looked at me and just smiled. He had his trademark red handkerchief that he was carrying as a pocket square in his jacket. He took it out and put it in my jacket and said: ‘Tu ne aaj mujhe dus saal jawaan kar diya.’ And I just couldn’t stop crying.... That was my most special moment as an actor.
We all know how important a role Jimmy Amarnath played in the 1983 World Cup and in the film, you have a large amount of screen time to prove that. What was your reaction when you heard that you had landed the part? And, of course, as we have spoken earlier, cricket is one of the big loves of your life....
Cricket is definitely my first love! It was a task to get this film... it wasn’t easy. The whole industry wanted to be in this film! I remember reading an article which said that Kabir Khan was directing 83 and that Ranveer Singh was going to star as Kapil Dev. The cricket fan in me got very happy because I felt that this was a film that was long overdue and I was glad that someone as good as Kabir Khan was making it.
And then, as I was putting the newspaper aside, I thought this is a film on the 1983 World Cup and I know my cricket well and I knew what Mohinder Amarnath had done in that World Cup. I had no idea what the script was about, but I knew that it had to be a damn good part! I wanted to know who was playing that and I reached out to Kabir. I went to meet him, I did my small talk here and there and then I burst out with, ‘Sir, I really, really, really want to be Jimmy!’ And he looked at me and smiled and said, ‘You know, that’s a very important part in the film.’ And I was like, ‘Yes sir, and that’s exactly why I want to play him!’
Then we went through the whole process. I did a look test, he wanted me to do a cricketing audition, and all of that. Finally when I landed the part, it sunk in that now I had a massive responsibility. How do I do this part, how do I make it my own....
And I have to thank Kabir, who put us through this beautiful process of trying to find our characters. He put us on to all the legends of the ’83 World Cup... I was fortunate enough that I got to spend close to a month with Jimmy sir. I asked him all sorts of questions... from what he ate in the ’83 World Cup to the kind of music he would listen to.... When I asked him how he felt when Michael Holding, Malcolm Marshall and Joel Garner were bowling to him with such ferocity, he just smiled at me and said, ‘Beta, agar main dimaag lagaane jaata toh tab tak ball nikal jaati.’
Jimmy Amarnath was all about being disciplined and focused and keeping his basics right. I am just the opposite. I am all over the place, I am a hyper kid! (Laughs) For me, that was the most difficult part to ace. I started meditating to calm myself down. I started writing a journal about what my mind space was like when I was playing him. From Day One, Kabir told us, ‘I don’t want you all to mimic anybody. I want you to understand the man you are playing and imbibe the personality.’ He asked me to work on my Punjabi, but otherwise I just had to imbibe Jimmy sir’s personality.
I will be honest. There were days when I would look at a picture of Jimmy sir smiling and try and smile like him for hours. There was a time when all of us, not only me, were subconsciously training for this film 24 hours a day. We would be watching videos or playing cricket or we would be talking about the ’83 World Cup and watching highlights of the matches together.... It’s been one of the most fulfilling experiences that I have ever had as an actor. I am so glad that all the hard work I put in has shown up on screen.
With Mohinder ‘Jimmy’ Amarnath
The leap as an actor is evident, but has this experience also changed you as a person?
Playing Mohinder Amarnath has made me a better human being. It’s brought discipline and clarity into my life. My life has become clutter free... I am not a mess anymore! (Laughs) Now I know what I want from life. We trained for this film for a year and shot for about six months. It completely changed me. Now I don’t take decisions in haste. I always thank Jimmy sir for this. I tell him, ‘Sir, trying to play you has just made me a better person.’ My family, for sure, is very happy (laughs)!
What was it like having Mohinder Amarnath play his father, the legendary Lala Amarnath, in the film? That was such an unexpected and heartwarming cameo....
You know, I was very nervous. When Kabir told me about it, I was like, ‘Sir, you have the OG Jimmy Amarnath in the film! How will people look at me and believe that I am Amarnath?! You can’t do this to me!’ I was very nervous, but Kabir was like, ‘Tu apna kaam kar na, yaar! You be the most authentic you can be. You don’t worry about what the audience will think. Be Amarnath na, follow the process and be in the process.’ So I did just that... I eased into the process.
Those parts with Jimmy sir were shot in the last schedule of the film, and by then, I had played him in the way I thought best. So I didn’t have those thoughts to grapple with anymore. But one day, I remember, he was on set and was sitting behind the monitor. After the take, Jimmy sir came up to me and started talking about other things and drinking chai. I was even scared of asking him how I did because if he said bakwaas tha, toh mera dil toot jaata (laughs). He didn’t say anything for two hours. I dropped him to the car and after he sat in the car and I was turning to go back to set, he rolled down the window and called my name... but he said Jimmy! He smiled and said, ‘Jimmy, achha kiya tu ne’ and the car sped off. And my heart was pounding... I was like, ‘Itna build-up kyun karte ho, sir. Bol do na seedhe! Insaan marr jayega idhar!’ (Laughs)
Shooting at Lord’s must have been special for the cricket fan in you....
I had always wanted to be a cricketer. I have trained to be one... I was an Under-19 player in Delhi and I have played state cricket from Jammu and Kashmir. I captained my college side. But at about 19-20, I sat myself down and asked myself, ‘Do you think you will ever play for the Indian team? You are good, but you aren’t good enough.’
This film has made me live my dream. Playing at Lord’s, ‘winning’ the World Cup, getting the Man of the Match award... if I had even played cricket or represented India, I wouldn’t have been able to achieve what Jimmy sir achieved. My mother has been a huge support in my cricket journey and I remember video-calling her from the Lord’s balcony with the award in my hand and we both started crying. Being an actor helps me live so many dreams that would have remained unfulfilled otherwise.