The Shah Family Playbook

Does one introduce Naseeruddin Shah? A man at once uber-successful and an outlier, one whose remarkable talent and individualistic choices have created a cult following that shows no sign of waning four decades into his theatre and film career.

At Algebra, Naseer served up a double treat that took his cult following up another few notches: a specially-crafted dramatised reading, followed by an intimate conversation on rebellion, heartbreak and self-belief.

In the process, he displayed the canny intelligence and ability to read – and lead – an audience that have been a hallmark of his career.

The first evidence of that was his reading from James Thurber’s fables, a masterful act of political ventriloquism even as he disavowed himself as a political animal. As he said: artists may sometimes not speak in their own voice, but can borrow others’ voices to speak their real thoughts.

Afterwards, in conversation with Shoma, he was everything you imagine an artist will be: angular, truth-telling, unabashed, unmanufactured. He spoke of the scar tissue his fractured relationship with his father has left in him; his abandonment of his first child Heeba; his relationship with drugs and art and that hardest ammunition to get: self-belief.

You could have seen him on a stage or screen for years, but we wager you’ve rarely seen Naseer like this. For a deep dive into the life of this complicated artiste, also order a copy of his “blisteringly honest” autobiography, And Then One Day.

Watch the full session above.