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00:00Behave like you're a newcomer.
00:01Every time you get a new project,
00:03behave like you're a newcomer.
00:04Fair enough.
00:05Because that's when you will put your best foot forward.
00:07Otherwise, you'll get complacent.
00:09And that's what I do.
00:10That's what I did in Cairns.
00:12There's a strategy which is put into place
00:14because everybody knows how it works.
00:16Yes.
00:17Who's putting the strategy for you?
00:19There's nobody putting a strategy for you.
00:20There's nobody telling you whether this is right,
00:21this is wrong.
00:22For them, there'd be a lot of doors open.
00:25For you, there are maybe 0.1% of that door which is open.
00:29And some of them, you really have to like nudge it open.
00:32You know, please see me, please see me.
00:34But, all said and done,
00:36I would have to say you've got to play the game
00:38the way it's played.
00:39Okay.
00:39Because any industry, and not only our industry,
00:44if I had a company,
00:46I'm not going to go and give it to even the best worker.
00:48I'm not going to go and hand it over to him, right?
00:50So, it is what it is.
00:52You can't fight that.
00:54When you're an outsider,
00:56you don't wait for things to come to you.
00:58You start hustling your way through.
01:03Good morning, this is Manjusha Radhakrishnan from Gulf News.
01:06I'm the entertainment editor.
01:08And today, it gives me great pleasure to interview
01:10our Dubai boy, as we call him, Tahas Shah.
01:13He was a steel trader before he made a Bollywood splash.
01:17And today, we have him acting in Sanjay Leela productions
01:21like Heera Mandi, which was this epic spectacle
01:25where he played this royal.
01:27It's very interesting to see his journey.
01:29In fact, Gulf News has chronicled and documented his growth.
01:33I remember speaking to him before his first movie
01:36with Yash Raj, youth-centric films,
01:39and then how he went on to do better projects, et cetera.
01:42So, we've been a part of his struggle,
01:43and we are so happy to see him reap the benefits
01:46of actually going to Mumbai and making it on his own steam.
01:50So, we are going to talk to Tahas Shah, be tuned.
01:52Taha, it's amazing to see you in your own turf
01:56in Dubai.
01:57We have been documenting your growth since 2008,
02:00I want to say, when you moved to Bombay.
02:02Nine.
02:032009, yes, 2009, and what a journey it's been.
02:06Now, he's in a Sanjay Leela Bansali epic spectacle.
02:09I have to take a shout-out and just say
02:10that you have always been very kind,
02:14even when there was nothing.
02:16There was nothing with me, nothing around me.
02:19I was nothing, but you have always been very kind,
02:21and you have always been very supportive.
02:23As the best.
02:24The reason why we love supporting homegrown UAE talents
02:27is because it takes a lot of courage for you to leave your,
02:30you know, you had a steel company, your dad had,
02:33you could have inherited a company,
02:35but you chose to go to Bombay and be a hustler,
02:37which takes a lot of courage,
02:39and I think it's a leap of faith, right?
02:41So, was it, how do you look back on that entire,
02:44you know, jump?
02:44My, I, you know, you can't, like, I can't really judge that,
02:49but when my friends meet me, like,
02:50they met me two days ago, and they're like,
02:52what made you, like, what thought came to your mind
02:55that made you actually want to take that leap of faith?
02:59You know, because you didn't know anybody.
03:01You never went there.
03:04Then what, you know, you dropped out of university,
03:07and we knew that you were never coming back,
03:10all right, and you left all your friends,
03:12you left all your education, you know,
03:13and by the end of it, it's just,
03:15we are so proud of you, man, you know,
03:17because all of us, everybody wanted to be either a musician,
03:21or they wanted to be this, they wanted to be that,
03:22but nobody really took the plunge.
03:24I think it's a win, not only for me,
03:26but for all my friends.
03:29At that moment of time, I just wanted to,
03:31at the financial crisis which happened,
03:33I made a decision, I will invest all my efforts
03:37into myself, no matter what the financial crisis,
03:40nobody can take that away from me.
03:42No money, nothing, no financial crisis
03:45will be able to take my skills, my talents,
03:47that I have put my efforts.
03:50So I believe that for anybody nowadays,
03:53I think it's very important to kind of ignite their flame,
03:57and you know, any kid, anybody who's growing up right now,
04:00their parents should kind of like just ignite their flame,
04:03rather than want them to be something they're not.
04:05True.
04:06You know, just kind of like push them in that direction.
04:08It doesn't matter if you live in luxury,
04:11or you live in a one bedroom,
04:14but as long as you love what you're doing,
04:16you're happy.
04:17I was talking to Karthik Aryan for Chandu Champion,
04:20and he was telling me that the other kids,
04:23the ones with access and privilege,
04:25have it easier in the sense everything is handed to them,
04:27they get multiple chances.
04:29In your case, do you believe that it's true,
04:31like it's not easy to make it on your own steam?
04:35100% what he said is right.
04:36They definitely get more chances than we do.
04:40Just say,
04:40aap to mujhe pehle se janati ho,
04:42and after Love Cut, the end did not work.
04:44Yes.
04:46People wrote me off.
04:48You know, it was very difficult for me.
04:50After two years, I got Gippy.
04:51Then again, after two years, I got another film.
04:54So, otherwise, for people who have the privilege,
04:57there's a strategy which is put into place,
04:59because everybody knows how it works.
05:01Yes.
05:02Who's putting the strategy for you?
05:04There's nobody putting a strategy for you.
05:05There's nobody telling you whether this is right,
05:06this is wrong.
05:07You know, for them, there'd be a lot of doors open.
05:10For you, there are maybe 0.1% of that door which is open,
05:14and some of them, you really have to, like, naljeet open.
05:17You know, please see me, please see me.
05:19But, all said and done, I would have to say,
05:22you've got to play the game the way it's played.
05:24Okay.
05:25Because any industry, and not only our industry,
05:29if I had a company,
05:31I'm not going to go and give it to even the best worker.
05:33I'm not going to go and hand it over to him, right?
05:35So, it is what it is.
05:37You can't fight that.
05:39When you're an outsider,
05:41you don't wait for things to come to you.
05:43You start hustling your way through.
05:45It's really the survival of the fittest after that.
05:48And again, one thing is true,
05:49in our industry, in any industry,
05:52any superstar has always come from the outside.
05:55That is true.
05:56Look at Shah Rukh Khan.
05:56He is the biggest success story we can think of.
05:59Yeah, he's the biggest success story,
06:00but there's Akshay sir, there's him,
06:02there's Bachchan sir.
06:03Yes.
06:04There's Deepika Padukone.
06:05There's Deepika Padukone.
06:06Yeah.
06:06Priyanka Chopra.
06:07Priyanka Chopra.
06:08Outside, she's making her way globally.
06:10Yeah.
06:11Because the fire is within.
06:13So, I think that is something
06:16that only outsiders can have.
06:17So, how did Sanjay Leela Bansali work out?
06:19Did you, was it your fire in your belly
06:22where you went and said,
06:23listen, I can do this?
06:24Because it was meant to go to like Pakistani heartthrob.
06:27I don't know if it's true, but yes.
06:29Apparently, Fawad Khan was supposed to play it,
06:31but you stepped into his shoes.
06:32That's a large shoes to fill.
06:34Very, very large shoes to fill.
06:35I love Fawad sir.
06:37I think, you know,
06:39even the small comparison that people are having
06:41of me with Fawad sir,
06:43I think that's very humbling.
06:44I think because he's a supremely talented actor.
06:46He is good.
06:47Right?
06:48So, all respect.
06:49All respect.
06:51Even if I'm a little bit of you, I love it.
06:51You did a good job though.
06:53I mean, you know.
06:54I really hope so.
06:55The fact is, you are in Hiramandi
06:56and you played this lord.
06:59Interesting character though.
07:00Towards the end, it was very complex as well.
07:02But how did you get this role?
07:03Let's start from the beginning.
07:05How did you impress Sanjay Leela Bansali?
07:07I didn't.
07:07I didn't impress him at all actually.
07:09I think it was 15 months of chasing the casting director
07:13to give me an audition.
07:15And then, I think she got tired of me.
07:18And my friend Tushar, like shop calling,
07:20man here, take this audition for a three-day role.
07:22Okay.
07:23All right?
07:24And we said, you know what?
07:25We'll do it.
07:25We'll do it.
07:26So we did the audition.
07:27We got selected.
07:28For the three-day role?
07:29For the three-day role.
07:30Ah, okay.
07:30And I selected, got selected.
07:31You won't even see that person in the series, right?
07:33Blink and miss.
07:34Yeah, for sure.
07:36So, after that, I randomly get a call saying that
07:40Sanjay sir wants to meet you.
07:41So I say, okay, why does he want to meet me
07:43for a three-day role?
07:44But I'd never met him, so I said, okay, fine.
07:46It is a good opportunity to interact.
07:48So I went there, I met him.
07:50And then he asked me about my past.
07:52I told him, he just said that you've done a lot of work,
07:54but nobody knows you.
07:55Yes.
07:56I said, yeah, well, I'm sorry.
07:57I'm trying, you know, but.
07:59It's harsh when they tell you that.
08:00But it's a fact as well.
08:01It's a fact.
08:02And I'm used to the things.
08:03I'm like, you know, it's completely fine.
08:05Thank you for at least understanding
08:07and listening to me, you know?
08:09But then he's like, you know what, Shruti?
08:11Don't give him this role.
08:12Give him the other role.
08:14Give him the role of Balraj.
08:15Oh, Balraj.
08:16Balraj, who is my best friend.
08:18Yeah.
08:18Right, I said, and it was a revolutionary character.
08:20He was in Blink and Miss for 30 days.
08:22I said, sir, thank you, thank you, thank you, sir.
08:24Then I was waiting for the contract.
08:26Then two weeks later, I was about to go sign the contract.
08:28And I got a call from them saying that, sorry,
08:31but sir has changed his mind.
08:33And I said, dude,
08:34because every time, dude,
08:36every time something good happens,
08:39something bad happens, right?
08:40Bad as in, I get rejected.
08:42You get rejected, you're taken out,
08:44somebody replaces you.
08:45Like you said, those influential people,
08:47whatever, whatever, whatever, right?
08:49And, but it didn't hurt me
08:50because I was so used to it by then.
08:52You know, for 13 years, I'm like, oh, you know what?
08:54So I went back because he wanted to meet me.
08:57Yeah.
08:57And I don't know why,
09:00but I just literally just went and I pleaded to him.
09:03I held his hand, held his leg.
09:05I'm like, sir, look, I'm so sorry if I messed up,
09:08but don't remove me.
09:09This is the biggest opportunity of my life.
09:11I really, I really, really beg you, please.
09:14He's, you know, very kindly, he said,
09:16better sit down, sit down.
09:17So I went and I sat down and then he's like,
09:19I saw your look test.
09:21Kuch toh hai teri aankhon mein.
09:23I want you for the lead role of my outfit,
09:25Taj Dar Baloch.
09:26Oh.
09:27You know, and that's where it all started.
09:29From there, I had the look test, I had the auditions.
09:32A month, he said, nobody called me back.
09:35And I was dying inside, right?
09:37Expecting what to happen.
09:38So I called Shruti, ma'am.
09:39Shruti is like, you know, sir hasn't told me yet.
09:41How will I tell you?
09:42I said, ma'am, I don't want the lead role.
09:43I am very happy.
09:44Thank you, ma'am.
09:45Please just sign me on for that
09:46so that I know that I've gotten something, right?
09:49Because literally I was written off from the industry.
09:51Nobody was giving me jobs.
09:52Nobody was giving me auditions.
09:54Yeah, you were clutching at straws at that point, right?
09:56This was year 2000 and?
09:582000 and what, 24?
09:59So it's 2021 or something like that.
10:03Yeah.
10:04So I'm like, please, just please.
10:05During that time that I was waiting
10:07for them to call me back, if they called me back,
10:09was because he already had somebody else.
10:12He'd already signed somebody else.
10:13Oh, wow.
10:13So you're just an if and but situation happening.
10:16Terrible though, right?
10:17It's like a job interview.
10:19You know you're in the running,
10:20but you're not the first choice.
10:21But you're not the first choice.
10:22Then I got a couple of projects offered to me,
10:25which was very lucky for me.
10:26And I got one international project.
10:27I was getting good money.
10:28I needed money, right?
10:30I need money.
10:30You need to survive.
10:31I need to survive.
10:32The boy's got to eat.
10:33So it's a boy's got to eat.
10:34You've got to have a certain kind of, you know,
10:37just for anything you need to go out
10:38and to meet people, whatever, whatever.
10:40You need some money.
10:41I got those three projects.
10:42I was stalling the contract for about a month,
10:44a month and a half.
10:45Now three months had passed, okay?
10:47And nothing, all right?
10:50And I had the day I had to decide
10:52whether I get the projects,
10:53sign them, or they were going to throw me out.
10:56So I said, okay.
10:58So they were all sitting and they called me
11:01and I'm like, you know what?
11:03Cancel the projects.
11:05So I took a big risk.
11:06Now I had no projects, no money, no call from Ansari.
11:09That's it.
11:10I was zero.
11:11I was back to the ground zero.
11:12Oh my God, back to ground zero.
11:14That's terrible.
11:15Three days later, I get a call from him
11:17saying that you're my Taj Dhak.
11:18Come to set.
11:20But those three and a half, three months and three days,
11:23especially those last three days, nothing.
11:25You're like, you're ready to pack up almost, is it?
11:28No, but working with Sanjay Leela Bansali, it's notorious.
11:31Apparently he's transformative.
11:32He kind of, he's career defining, which is true.
11:35But also he puts you through the grind.
11:37Let's not forget.
11:38But you did very well.
11:40You looked almost like, you know,
11:42you were born in that feudal era.
11:44Like you had that, what do you call it?
11:46You know, that gravitas.
11:48I, you know, to be honest,
11:50the universe has put me through so much pressure
11:53and, you know, turbulence in life
11:57that Mr. Bansali was, almost seemed like he was kind to me.
12:02It didn't seem like, it's like,
12:04this is water off my back.
12:05He wasn't ever, he wasn't,
12:07people have always been telling me a lot of stories.
12:10He did this, he said this, he does this.
12:12He was the kindest to me.
12:13Kindest, I feel that when you are professional
12:17and when you are educated and, you know,
12:19you come in with a certain kind of education in your craft,
12:23he sees that.
12:24He sees that you're not just a run-of-the-mill kind of person
12:28who hasn't done education, who knows what he's doing.
12:30When he knows that you know what you're doing,
12:32the first few days, first week,
12:34especially those romantic scenes,
12:35when I see them, those two takes.
12:38He gave me only two takes.
12:39Nice.
12:40He gave me things, like one take,
12:41he's like, he just said, this is what it is.
12:43He won't even explain to me.
12:44He says, I understood the scene and I gave it to him
12:46and he's like,
12:47he's a good guy.
12:48Oh, that's amazing.
12:49And season two, what can you tell us?
12:52I don't even know.
12:53It's a surprise to all of us, to be very honest.
12:56You don't know what you're doing, right?
12:57I just, I don't.
12:58It's like Joey Singh.
12:59I have no clue what's going to happen.
13:01We didn't even know they were going to launch season two, literally.
13:04Netflix launched it in Carter Road.
13:07When it got launched on Instagram
13:09is when we knew that they launched season two.
13:10Oh, so, aren't you guys told before that?
13:13Aren't actors told?
13:14I love it.
13:15Actors have zero knowledge.
13:17I had zero knowledge of the script.
13:19I didn't get the script.
13:20He said, come, you're my Taj.
13:21Come to set.
13:22Yeah.
13:22And I didn't have the, I mean, nobody could even,
13:24I couldn't even ask him for the script.
13:25I said, okay, I'm coming.
13:26I came.
13:27And then the next day when we were actually getting ready,
13:30script.
13:31I mean, not script, scene.
13:32Scene, oh wow.
13:33That's it.
13:33Now you decide what's the back story, front story
13:36and come and perform.
13:38But you did well.
13:39But you did well.
13:40I mean, of course, I bugged them with a lot of questions, of course.
13:42Yeah.
13:43What happened here?
13:43What happened there?
13:43What's this?
13:44What's that?
13:44But I never, nobody gets a script, literally.
13:48So on the launch day, Netflix had given us a paper,
13:50like an A4 paper with all the do's and don'ts,
13:53say this, don't say this.
13:54And a little history or brief about all the characters
13:57in the story.
13:58We were learning new information on that day.
14:00Brand new information.
14:01It's like, gave you where?
14:02So we didn't have any information, to be honest.
14:04It was just given your part.
14:05Right.
14:06That's it.
14:06Rest of it was just in Mr. Bansali's mind.
14:11OK.
14:11You got a lot of love.
14:12The reviews were so good.
14:14But your on-screen interest, of course, was slated, OK?
14:18I mean, universally slated.
14:19For whatever it is, do you go to her?
14:21And what is the kind of advice you can give to her?
14:24Because it's not easy, right?
14:25Nothing is personal.
14:26But it still feels personal when somebody slates you.
14:29See, I don't think I have the, either the,
14:33I don't think I'm worthy enough to give her any advice,
14:36especially when you're in the midst of the greatest
14:38director in the world.
14:39And that too, who is her uncle?
14:41So I think that any advice which she should be getting
14:46is only from this great man.
14:48I know, I can only talk from my experience
14:50that I have seen her put her best foot forward.
14:52Every day she's on set, she's on time.
14:55She has always given logical explanations
14:58on the scenes as to why this should happen or should not
15:00happen.
15:03And that's the only thing that a person can do.
15:05The rest of it is a perception of the audience
15:09that I cannot change, anybody cannot change.
15:11It's a huge project, right?
15:13And Sanjay sir is a perfectionist.
15:16And he would never give anybody a chance.
15:18He's given me a chance.
15:19I mean, I had no but nothing, right?
15:20So he would never give anybody a chance
15:22who he doesn't believe in.
15:23OK, fair enough, fair enough.
15:24So I think that's the most important thing,
15:26that he believes in her.
15:27And I think that's the most important thing.
15:29Right.
15:29And then you also headed to Cannes.
15:31Taha, what were you doing there?
15:32You need to tell me.
15:33Like, what was that all about?
15:36Were you just networking?
15:37And you have no problem of saying, I was networking.
15:39I wanted to make contacts, see what's out there.
15:42See, I went to Cannes because Hero Monday became a success.
15:47My character was being loved so much.
15:49And I felt like all these years I wanted to go,
15:52but I had nothing to speak about.
15:54So now I had something big to speak about.
15:56So I wanted to go and push this out as much as possible.
16:00Like, even now that I'm here, I want more and more audience
16:03to see it.
16:04I want more and more audience to love it.
16:07So that is definitely one thing I wanted.
16:09The second thing I wanted to do was I wanted to go there
16:12to expand my dreams.
16:13This is a world hub of filmmakers.
16:16It's not just Indian filmmakers or just Arab filmmakers.
16:19It was worldwide.
16:22There were pavilions from around the globe.
16:24And I love networking.
16:26It gives me a high.
16:28It really gives me a high.
16:29So we went.
16:30My team has prepared all my business cards.
16:32And I was going, and I was giving my cards away.
16:35I've built contacts all across the globe now.
16:37Film commissions, ambassadors.
16:39You just put yourself out there.
16:40Yeah, you need to always, in the back of your head,
16:43always tell that you're a newcomer.
16:44Behave like you're a newcomer.
16:46Every time you get a new project,
16:47behave like you're a newcomer.
16:49Because that's when you will put your best foot forward.
16:53Otherwise you'll get complacent.
16:54And that's what I do.
16:56That's what I did in Cannes.
16:57And luckily for me, I had to also launch another film.
17:00It was a film called Paro, and a film about bride slavery,
17:05which happens up in Mewat.
17:06Where is that?
17:07This is above Haryana.
17:08OK.
17:09So you're in that movie.
17:10And when is it out?
17:13We made this for the festivals.
17:14So it's going to travel the festivals.
17:16Fantastic.
17:16It's going to travel to Toronto, Venice, Red Sea Film Festival.
17:19And once it does eight, nine months of festivals,
17:22that's when we will have a proper release date.
17:24Excellent.
17:25I've always been to film festivals.
17:27And I know the kind of audience which goes there is different.
17:31Yes.
17:32They're very different.
17:33Red Sea is very different from even Marrakesh.
17:35Marrakesh, right?
17:35Yeah, yeah.
17:36And I feel that that is a market that I want to tap into too.
17:40I also want to do commercial, and Shah Rukh Khan is my idol.
17:46So those kind of films.
17:48But at the same time, I also want to do the festivals
17:51and go like the Nawaz and the Irfan and those kind of ways.
17:54Yes.
17:55It's a mix of both.
17:56It's a mix of both.
17:57And if I can be blessed to kind of balance out and do
18:01two good things at the same time, then why not?
18:03Why not?
18:04OK, last question, of course.
18:05I know there are many people in Dubai who want to go to,
18:08who want to try acting, right?
18:10But they don't want to go to Bollywood for the hustle.
18:11But do you think how important is it
18:13to actually be in the epicenter of you have to make the move,
18:18take that plunge?
18:19Do you think that?
18:20I think there's no question on that, really.
18:25You need to be at the place where you want work.
18:28I mean, if anybody thinks otherwise,
18:29then they are fooling themselves.
18:32You cannot sit over here and expect
18:34to get work over there.
18:36It's just not going to happen.
18:37The world is too big.
18:38The world is moving too fast.
18:40And on a statistics rate, there's
18:42at least, at least just 1,000 to 2,000 actors
18:46coming into Mumbai every day.
18:48Wow, it's tough.
18:49All right, 2,000, I'm giving you a small number, all right?
18:52But you can just imagine 2,000 actors per day, every day,
18:55multiply by 30, multiply by.
18:57Yes.
18:58Yeah, you can just imagine.
18:59Of course, per year.
19:01Per year, right?
19:02So this is just a small little percentage.
19:04So it's impossible.
19:06So you've got to be there.
19:07You have to be there.
19:08I mean, you can get supporting characters,
19:10maybe if they want somebody from Dubai, OK.
19:13But once you get there, then only diction, language, tone,
19:20communication, way of being, behaving,
19:24everything needs to change.
19:26Thank you so much, Taha, and congratulations
19:28on your success.
19:29Very happy for you.
19:30Thank you for having me.
19:30Thank you, guys.
19:31Always a pleasure.
19:32Thank you so much.