Himanshu Malik: Acting served as a training ground for taking up direction

Tum Bin actor-turned-director Himanshu Malik says that he absolutely enjoyed his phase of acting and modelling but gradually realised that it was never his calling. Instead, directing films was what he was really made for. So, backed with his experience of being an actor, he turned into a filmmaker.

“Once you go behind the camera your concepts and perceptions change totally. And, for me it happened gradually and organically. The fun is that you can enjoy eating everything without worrying about gaining weight or going to the gym (laughs),” says Malik.

The LOC Kagril actor further adds, “For me, acting was on-the-journey experiences. I started at 21 and tasted success very early. I have been part of cult songs (Sonu Nigam’s Deewana and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s Afreen), done films including playing lead role in Khwahish (opposite Mallika Sherawat). But, later I realised that it was just a phase for me and my real wish was to take up direction.”

Malik credits his acting assignments as his training ground ahead of direction. “My initial work experience helped me to learn the craft better. It was joy to be a part of some wonderful projects but then we all want to grow and move ahead. The fact is that I never had the vanity and obsession to be a huge star and that I guess is an inbuilt quality. I got bored of it and evolved with time and discovered the bliss of film making. I love the process of writing, storytelling and the medium to say it is films. I personally felt, the stories that are happening around me and are prevalent in society are not being told on screen. So, I was driven to tell such stories and design characters that are built in my way of storytelling.”

In 2012, he wrote and directed short film Q.E.D. that did well at film fests. “Then I directed some music videos, ads followed by a feature film. My last assignment as actor was 3 Stories.”

He shot for his first feature film Chitrakut in 2018-19 that went to film festival and also won awards. It’s slated for a theatrical release. “It’s a relationship drama about love, companionship and transmission it creates. We shot it in Goa, Mumbai and Pune. The city’s name has been used as metaphor as a symbol of love, as per the mythology. It a young cast who have been around and doing some really good stuff.”

On the current trend of storytelling he says, “Today the world is one big marketplace. So, that puts a lot of pressure on traditional filmmakers. I find some of these Hindi films very boring and painful! I have tried to put my film in one visual-scape so it’s like a song. I hope people would love it.”

So, what’s next? “I guess I will take a break first (laughs). There are a lot of stories to be told but there few that I want to work on. And, then there are a lot of complications to focus on. So, once all are aligned my next will be on soon,” Malik signs off.