In the dynamic world of Indian cinema, actor, director, and filmmaker Kenny Basumatary stands as a shining testament to talent and determination. His journey from the regional brilliance of the Local Kung Fu series to the grandeur of mainstream Hindi cinema is nothing short of inspiring.
In this exclusive interview, Ankita Kakaty delves into his remarkable journey and gains insights into his experiences, including his recent blockbuster, Jawan, where he shared the screen with the legendary Shah Rukh Khan.
Excerpts:
Ankita Kakaty: Looking back at your journey, it has been an inspiring one. From the regional project of the Local Kung Fu series, you have made it to mainstream Hindi cinema. How did it all start, and when did you land up in Mumbai?
Kenny Basumatary: I always aspired to become an actor since I was in school. Later on, I had plans of getting into the film direction course at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune, but since they had the criteria of allowing graduates only, I couldn’t pursue the course as I was an engineering dropout (laughs). Eventually, I came back to Guwahati and worked as a newsreader for three years at a news channel and moved back to Mumbai since I had a flair for acting. There, I started giving auditions for various brand advertisements, shows, films, series, etc. Gradually, I got a few projects as a voiceover/dubbing artist, and after a while working on my craft and honing it, I got the opportunity to work in various character roles for films.
In the year 2013, I made Local Kung Fu, which is the second Assamese film to have a nationwide release and was appreciated by many. It has also been dubbed as India’s first Kung Fu Film. This really boosted my confidence, and I started directing for some of the successful ventures such as Balaji Telefilms, Savadhan India episodic, etc. I was also fortunate to be a part of Hindi feature films such as Shanghai (2012), Mary Kom (2014), Raag Desh (2017), Yaara (2020), and the latest blockbuster Jawan (2023) as one of the Jawans with Shah Rukh Khan.
How did the Atlee’s directorial Hindi debut film Jawan happen, and how was the entire journey of working with the superstar Shah Rukh Khan and the entire team of Jawan ?
Initially, speaking about the process to grab any major roles in films or any big projects, it is essential to give two to three auditions. As for instance, for Mary Kom,” I appeared for the audition thrice, and for Shanghai and Yaara, I gave two auditions. But interestingly, in the case of Jawan, I had given a previous audition at the Mukesh Chabra Casting Company, based on which I was being called by the director for the most significant role of my career till date. So, on the strength of my previous work, I got the opportunity of a lifetime.
Speaking about the regional projects which you had worked on and been a part of were quite ahead of their times. And conceptually, they were very much liked and appreciated by the masses with the popular characters and their dialogues, comic elements, and scenes which are still fresh on our minds over the decade. So, how do you prepare yourself for such characterization, and how did you do it for Jawan?
The looks of the character were all the creativity of the make-up team. But since I was into martial arts and sports since my school days, it helped me to bring that agility and life to the character to be portrayed on screen. And to that, I was also into theatrics and plays, which has helped to hone my preparation for this and many roles that I had played on screen. Speaking of Jawan, an action team arrived from South Africa for a sequence that they had choreographed. During the session, they have trained us on how to use guns during shots and how to move along with the guns frame by frame, how the footwork is for each shot, and positioning of the equipments. We did shoot a lot of action scenes, but the fact is that everything is not in the final edit since there were multiple stories that go on simultaneously in the film, but we did learn a lot, and this was the overall action preparation for my character in Jawan.
Kenny Basumatary in Jawan. (2nd from the left)
Enlighten us on your character role in Jawan and how was the entire experience of working with SRK?
In the film Jawan, my character name is Nazir Ahmed, and I played one of the Special Forces commando team members of Vikram Rathod (Shahrukh Khan’s older version). The film had a lot of actors, but majorly my scenes were with Shah Rukh Khan (SRK). In between, we had casual meet-ups with Sanya Malhotra and Priyamani, and it was a very good experience. Speaking about SRK, we got to observe the actor thoroughly, and I must say he is a thorough gentleman and a very intelligent person. During all the scenes, he was very polite and gentle on sets and did never see him losing his temper during the entire shoot period of 25 days. It was just one odd day when there was a lot of chaos and noises on the set to which he said “Chillamchillinahin, sab aaram se kamkaro” (Don’t make noise, please work in peace). He used to sit in one place and prepared his dialogues and when it is time for action he never goofs up with the dialogue and was perfect in one take. In the span of 25 days he just took 2-3 retakes and that’s it, he remembers each of the dialogue that you see on screen and that’s really an amazing trait of a true megastar.
Can you state any incident or memorable moments during the shooting of Jawan?
On the first day of our shoot, one of the most memorable moments was that the first scene we had in the film Jawan was the scene where we had to go and hug Shah Rukh Khan. The four of us playing commandos looked at each other with astonishment, wondering what was exactly happening. That was unreal and special at the same time. We shot in multiple locations such as Mumbai and Chennai.
What are your upcoming projects in the near future?
The Local Kung Fu – 3 has been started and we are planning to release it on the teacher’s day i.e. 5th September, 2024. And the characters that were in the Local Kung Fu – 1 would be again live in action this time. There is another Assamese film I have acted titled Gulai Sur from the team of Kolongpar and CriticalCouple. Another project is a film titled Jiya which is about a single mother and how she meets a new person in her life and the relationship that develops between the two. So this would be my first serious film in Assamese and I am excited and looking forward for them.