Mir Sarwar, Kashmir’s prominent
Kashmir News Bureau’s Fahim Shah, in conversation with a prominent actor from the Kashmir Valley, who has worked in blockbuster hits like Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Phantom, Kesari and many other populat Web-series and Tv Shows Mohammad Mir Sarwar talks about his life and experiences throughout his journey to the big screen.
Talking about his life prior to his acting career, Sarwar said, “I come form a very humble background, my father, Mohammad Safdar Mir, has been the most humble person I’ve ever come across in my life.”
“I was inclined towards sports, ‘martial arts’ to be more specific. I have a national medal in kick boxing, Taikuwando, Wushu and gold medalist in Muay Thai. My initial aim was to win some medals, get selected for internationals, then get a government job and settle down,” he added. “But in the process of this sports field, while I was in Delhi for my education, I got exposed to the field of modeling. I thought to give it a try for sometime but I never thought to take it as a profession. I felt good about it, you know it is always good to be in the lime light and see yourself on Magazines or the front page of the newspaper or some music video and ads,” Sarwar said.
The Kashmiri actor shared, “It was a good high as I was in my teens, early 20s. After my education, I remember I did one Ad and there were many people from our locality who came to my father and complained. They told him that your son is in the media field, interacting and all; He shouldn’t have done it because you come from a religious background.”
He said that despite all these reactions, his father as well as all other family members supported him. Sarwar said, “I remember doing my first play with Bappi Da, he is my ‘Guru’ and Mr. N K Raina, have done many plays with him as well.” “During my very first play, I was M K Raina’s Assistant Director and was with him as a faculty in the 3rd workshop, which was an honor for me,” he said, adding, “That is how it all started for me.”
Sarwar said, “Over the years, I found that it is giving me a creative satisfaction and I gave up so many things for it. I sacrificed my government job and many other benefits of being in Kashmir.”
Talking about his life outside Kashmir, he said, “My life style in Delhi was different, I had to earn on my own and was doing door-door marketing for survival,” adding, “You know, everything comes at a cost. I was not born with a silver spoon in my mouth. I had to work quite hard for it and it has been a long journey which is still going on.”
“There is a lot to learn and a lot to achieve but yes it gives me satisfaction that after two decades, I am where I am today,” He emphasized.
About realizing his inclination towards modeling career, Sarwar said, “There was not a particular moment where I decided to take it as a career but the different highs, I kept on getting. Ads on newspaper, songs, ramp shows, etc. so there were like many moments especially the theater,” adding, “that’s when I realized that this is something I would love to do but it was not allowed, not a career choice which I would have made during the early 2000. Because that time, society used to ask my family that ‘what does your son do for a living?’ And my family would respond with acting and modeling but again they used to ask about the work I used to do.”
“This is still the case, It is still not considered as a full fledged career option but many kids from todays generation want to be in this field and that’s why people have started accepting it to quite some extent,” he emphasized.
Responding to a question about how acting can help our society grow in a positive way, Sarwar said that the initial years of Bollywood, films were made in a way that even a common man could relate to and the youth picked up those things. “Those films shaped up the mindset of so many generations and it was the only main source of entertainment. I have heard so many times that a film has inspired a person took a particular job.” “Yes, films have the power to influence a society in a particular direction,” he added. Asked about his opinion on Media’s role in shaping up a society, Sarwar said, “It is the responsibility of the maker, to write something that is, in one way or the other, beneficial for the society.”
“We are at times bound by the commercial aspects of the film and cannot make it the way we want to,” he said, adding that even if they are making a movie which has more sense to it but then they get comments like there is no ‘masala’ in it. “At times we have to compromise with the quality because survival is important. If we are investing our hard earned money into it, we need to talk about the recovery of the same,” he added. “Yes, we need to write and make films which are beneficial for the society and which will inspire the audience and they should connect, love it,” Sarwar said. He emphasized that a lot of people are taking up film making and people should invest in it but in the long run they should try to strike a balance between it’s commercial aspects and Art.
Regarding the influence of the characters (he has played) on his person life, Sarwar said, “Influence of characters is on the set! Once I step off, I am Me, Mohammad Sarwar Mir.” “There is always a particular preparation which every actor has to do but you should not be too much prepared that if the Director wants to make some on stage changes and you’ll not be able to do it. That’ll be injustice to the craft’s demands,” he said, adding, “I am Mir Sarwar playing different characters in different films but I am those characters between ‘Action’ and ‘Cut’. Of-course certain characters will have a percentage of me.”
About choosing the Terrorist roles in most of the films, Sarwar responded, “You don’t get to choose. If you are an outsider, you don’t get to choose the characters in a film. I had no godfather neither belonged to a producers or some star family.” “For me, it was about starting from scratch to getting an entry into a Bollywood film,” he said, adding that now after he has done quite some work and is being recognized for it, he can choose particular part of a character and refuse some as well.
Asked about the major struggles he has faced during his career, Sarwar said that there were many. “I decided to let go a government job. One time I had to travel back to Kashmir because of some business set backs. But then I had to go back and start my acting career again. That’s when I started doing door-to-door marketing and spend half of the money I earned, on theater.”
“I remember even after the release of Bajhrangi Bhaijaan and Phantom in 2016, I used stay in a ‘Chawl’ and eat one meal a day,” he added.
Sarwar also shared that he wants to make films, which will depict the stories of his society. “I want to tell the stories of Kashmir to the world, human stories, nothing political. There are so many things that I can talk about from Kashmir’s perspective, since this place is always shown in a negative light.” He has refused several roles, which went against his ethics and his soul didn’t allow him to play.
Moreover, about his inspirations in personal as well as professional life, Sarwar said, “My father (Mohammad Safdar Mir, who passed away last year) is, was and will always be my inspiration. He was a self-made man and I’ve always followed his footsteps.”
Sarwar further said that there are certain things that a person is blessed, natural comes in with the genes and all. “People should develop these blessing in their cities and then take to Delhi, Mumbai and other big cities to achieve their dreams, so that they don’t waste their time and put their mental health at risk.”