Madras Cafe: Shoojit has a poetic sense of cinema, says Siddhartha Basu

Mumbai: Veteran quiz master-turned-TV producer Siddhartha Basu, who is making his acting debut with Shoojit Sircar's 'Madras Cafe', says theater has always been his first love but he doesn't mind taking up big screen projects.

"Theater has always been my first love. I have been on stage since a very young age, most actively in college and through my 20s. I have been a compulsively close observer of people, their speech and behaviour, and I guess the propensity for acting is just an extension of that," Basu told PTI.

Basu, who has produced popular quiz shows like 'Kaun Banega Crorepati' and 'Dus Ka Dum' was initially hesitant to accept the acting offer from Sircar. "I was a bit incredulous and hesitant as I have never sought to be on the big screen. I was not sure my Hindi was good enough to do it right, or that that I had the experience to do screen acting. But Shoojit was persistent and asked me to trust him," said the 58-year-old.

Sircar and Basu's association goes back a long way. The 'Vicky Donor' director began his career in TV with Basu's firm Synergy. Sircar worked with Basu on a number of shows. "I have enormous regard for his body of work. He has a lovely, earthy, and poetic sense of cinema," Basu added.

Basu will be seen playing the role of an intelligence office in 'Madras Caf ', a political spy thriller.

"I play RD, Robin Dutt, a top external intelligence agency officer. He deploys and handles Vikram Singh, the character played by John Abraham, for covert operations behind enemy lines. As the Indian interventions goes awry, the mission changes when the terror turns towards home," he said.

Abraham is playing an Indian intelligence agent in the film, which releases on August 23, while actress Nargis Fakhri will be seen as an international reporter. "John Abraham is intelligent and sensitive with enough conviction to back this sort of cinema. Shoojit is an intuitive director, completely at home in his craft, with an innate grasp of the look, feel, and content of every scene."

Basu has also has been roped in to play a role in Anurag Kashyap's upcoming film 'Bombay Velvet'.

"Acting in movies can only be a once in a while activity, as there is lots cooking at Synergy, working on a number of shows in multiple languages. But if a film and the filmmaker are a fit, and if I feel I can do justice to a role, I would consider it," Basu said.