New Delhi:For most people, has always looked completely at ease on screen. Whether it was Masoom, Sparsh, Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro or A Wednesday!, his performances carried a quiet confidence that made acting seem effortless. But the man behind those roles tells a very different story in And Then One Day: A Memoir.
First published in 2014, the autobiography is more about everything that came before success. Shah writes with astonishing candor about the fears that he had, the doubts that he had, whether he belonged in the profession at all. That honesty is what makes the book stand out even today.
The fear of getting on stage never really went away
Of the more surprising things Shah admits is that he never really got over stage fright. “I’ve studied at the National School of Drama and the Film and Television Institute of India, but the nervousness never left me,” he says. Experience didn't make it easy for him to walk onto a stage or face a camera.
Instead he learned to live with those nerves as part of the job. Instead of waiting to feel fearless, he concentrated on the performance itself. When reading those pages, one notices that confidence, at least for Shah, was something he built one performance at a time.
Acting was never part of a grand plan
Many actors speak of having dreamed of cinema since childhood. But Shah’s story was different.
In the memoir he says acting was not something he had carefully plan ahead. Theatre came along while he was still trying to figure out what he wanted from life. What started as a curiosity slowly developed into a passion, which ultimately became a career.
He doesn’t look back on himself as someone who was chasing fame. He writes more like a young man looking for something that made sense, finding it at last on stage.
There was a time when quitting seemed easier
Shah’s career began shakily. Finding good roles wasn't easy, money was often tight, and there were days when he wondered if acting could ever be a stable profession. “There was times when I thought about just walking away,” he says. Like most newcomers he had no assurance of ever making anything of the struggle.
Not the promise of stardom, but the love of acting kept him going. That choice would eventually influence the kind of career he built, one that prized meaningful characters over commercial formulas.
He never tried to fit the hero mould
When he writes about his looks, he is equally honest. He says he never saw himself as someone who fit the image of the typical Hindi film hero. He didn’t try to reinvent himself or chase the usual leading roles, but found his strength lay elsewhere. He picked roles with depth, stories that challenged him and films that allowed him to grow as an actor.
In the end, that decision turned out to be one of the defining moments of his career. Audiences may not have remembered him for glamorous songs or larger than life heroes but they remembered the characters he brought to life.
And Then One Day is one of the most candid autobiographies written by an Indian actor even more than a decade after its release. This is not a book that tries to construct the image of a perfect star. Instead, it shows readers a man who doubted himself and stumbled more than once and still found a way forward. Maybe that’s the reason even at 76, Naseeruddin Shah is appreciated not just for his performances but also for the honesty with which he has always spoken about his life.
Also Read: