Actor Naseeruddin Shah tells Bharati Dubey that while he’s getting roles today that he didn’t get before, he is a little bored with films. Excerpts:

THE TIMES OF INDIA (September 11, 2011)

You have been very busy. Four of your films are slated for release, including Dev Anand’s. • Three of the four have been in the making for some time. I did Dev saab’s film because he wanted me to do it. I have an emotional attachment with him; he has given me so much joy and there is no other way I can return it. He is the first cool guy of our film industry. The other two films —“Michael” and “The Blueberry Hunt”— are small-budget films and I became a part of them because they needed help.

At 61, you don’t mind romancing young heroines? • One is never too old for romance. It is strange that I was asked to use a whitener when I had jet-black hair, and now when I have grayed, they want me to colour it black. I did challenging roles in the past, but they were too predictable, whether it was “Sparsh”, “Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Aata Hai” or “Chakra”. Now the roles that I have got will be a bit of a surprise for the audience. Films like “Michael” and “Ishqiya” offer me opportunities that I didn’t get before.

Which directors of today have impressed you? • I am thrilled with Anurag Kashyap, Dibakar Banerjee; in Bengali films it is Q and Srijit Mukherjee, who made “Autograph”. And Shoaib Mansoor, the director of “Bol” from Pakistan — I was offered the role of the father in the film and I More >