Eternals actor Harish Patel tears up at memories of Shashi Kapoor, slams new generation as ‘badtameez’

Actor Harish Patel, who will soon be seen in Marvel’s Eternals, spoke about how his career began with stalwarts of the Indian theatre scene, and then with legends of the film industry. He said that compared to the people he has worked with in the past, young actors these days are ‘ill-mannered’ and ‘nobodies’.

In an interview, Harish Patel reflected on his origins and got emotional while remembering the past.

He told Pinkvilla in an interview, “I was very surprised when people recognised me after a two-second appearance in the trailer because, since 2004, I haven’t been able to work in India. Not because I haven’t been getting roles, but because I would have to go abroad every couple of months for work.”

He continued in Hindi, “I started my career with such legends; Shyam Benegal, Govind Nihalani, Girish Karnad… And if we talk about my start in films, or commercial films, as they say, Shashi Kapoor walked up to me at Prithvi theatre with folded hands, and asked, ‘sir, will you work in my film?’.”

Harish teared up at the memory, and continued after a moment’s pause, “When you’ve worked with such people, hung out with such people, learned from them, then how can you take ‘aaj kal ke chatte-batte, badtameez log (these useless, ill-mannered people of today)’ seriously. Not everyone is like this, but imagine, if the director and producer don’t have time to talk to me, then how can I work with them. I don’t care for these people. And I believe in destiny; what’s meant to happen will happen.”

Also read: Harish Patel says he told Kumail Nanjiani on Eternals set he wasn’t fluent in English, reveals how the cast reacted

Harish, who is known for his comical role as Ibu Hatela in the cult film Gunda, will be seen as Karun, in Marvel’s Eternals, which also stars Gemma Chan, Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Kumail Nanjiani, Richard Madden and Kit Harington, among others. Directed by Chloe Zhao, the film is due out later this year.