CHIC TODAY: Can a talk a bit about your background? I mean, where were you born, what first inspired you to become an actor and what were some of your experiences growing up which shaped your passion for film.

RUPINDER NAGRA: I was born in Punjab, India and my family moved to Canada in the early 1970’s. That was a time when a large number of Indians were immigrating to Canada. My inspiration to become an actor started with my parents taking me to the movies to see Indian films. The first film I saw was Amitabh Bachchan’s “Deewar”. I remember sitting in the theater being in awe of what was happening in front of me on the screen. I couldn’t believe that people were showcasing their lives like that for everyone to see. My parents later explained to me that I was watching actors on the screen and that they had created this world for everyone’s entertainment. It was from that point on that I knew what I wanted to do. I must have been 6 or 7 at the time. Then, growing up I always found that it was cinema which would bring the family together for an evening. It was also a way for friends to bond. In the 70’s it was cinema that kept me connected to India before my first trip there as a child. I remember our Christmas holidays would involve the opening of presents, followed by a viewing of the latest Indian blockbuster with my aunts, uncles, parents and brother. It was this bonding power of cinema that I found to be such a beautiful thing. It was something that I wanted to be a part of. It was also for me a way to escape. If something wasn’t going right, I would let my mind drift away to a film showing on TV or, as I got older, I always found myself heading to the movies on my own if I wanted to evade.

CT: How did you come to be involved in “Amal”?

RN: I met director Richie Mehta at a film festival in Toronto. This was about 6 years ago. We started having a discussion about films that we liked and what we didn’t like. We talked about the types of films we enjoy watching. A couple of weeks after that, he sent me a short story titled “Amal”, which his brother had written. I immediately fell in love with it. Richie was interested in shooting the film in New Delhi as an experiment. So we threw a fundraiser in Toronto. We raised $1500, which became our budget for the film. We got a few of our friends who work in the industry to come along to shoot the short film. Then the short film did the rounds of the film festivals circuit and was fairly successful. It was then that Richie felt the themes of the short would be interesting ones to bring to a feature film audience. I was lucky enough to be asked to come along for the ride with the feature and I must say it has been a very interesting and fulfilling ride indeed.

CT: In person, apart from your delightfully outgoing personality, you are quite different from the character you portray in the film. How did you prepare for the role?

RN: I did many things to prepare for the role. Physically – I dropped about 40 lbs because I felt it was very important to capture the look of a rickshaw driver. I have always envisioned Amal as being tall and lanky. You can see in his face his life on the streets. There was one other physical trait that I worked on and that was Amal’s walk. Then, I had to understand the world of a rickshaw driver. When the film was given the go-ahead, I went to New Delhi on my own for two weeks. I spent time with rickshaw drivers. The first couple of days I just sat on street corners and watched the way they interacted with one another, with tourists and with clients of the upper or lower castes. I then started talking with them. Asking questions that I had personally but also ones that related to the script directly. I videotaped all of this. I would watch the tapes every day and it helped me shape the character of Amal. I discovered how to play Amal correctly since it is a very fine line with his character. He is a rickshaw driver – so he must be street smart – but at the same time he doesn’t do things expecting anything in return. To me, Amal is a man who doesn’t put much importance in worldly things, or more directly, in money. He is a beautiful combination of Jesus Christ and Forrest Gump. Next, I had to work on Amal’s background. In order to properly ground myself in the world of Amal I felt it was very important to understand what came before in his life. I spent a lot of time understanding Amal’s relationship with his father. It is something that is only barely mentioned in the film, however it was something that was very important for me to flesh out in order to truly bring the character to life. Finally, I have been very lucky to have had a fantastic acting coach in my corner. John Riven is based in Toronto and I have been studying with him for a number of years now. He was someone who played an important role in helping to bring this character to life.

CT: In which way do you see yourself most like Amal and how do you differ most from him?

RN: Every character an actor plays he brings himself to the part. I would have to say that I feel that I do have the goodness of Amal – it’s something Richie says all the time – but I differ from him the most in that it would not take me as long to ask a girl out! That’s something my wife will understand and enjoy a good laugh reading.

CT: What are some of your upcoming projects?

RN: “6 7 8 9 10″ is a film directed by Richie Mehta. We shot this film immediately after shooting Amal. They have just completed post-production on it. I am currently shooting a film for Dharma Productions and I will start work on a film with Santosh Sivan next year.