Bollywood and television shows are often blamed for inspiring real-life crimes. But actor Anup Soni, who has for long been anchoring the reality-based ‘Crime Patrol’ TV show, says it is stupid on an individual’s part to be influenced by reel drama.

While the show has had a positive impact on him, Anoop says it is an individual’s choice as to which path should be taken in the end.

“If somebody commits a crime after seeing this show, then he is stupid and by that logic, I should be the first one to commit a crime as I am there in all 1,600 episodes of it! I would have learnt the tactics… That is just an excuse.

“It’s your choice that which path you want to follow. In all dramas, the criminal is caught in the end, some get caught early, some take time, but eventually everyone is caught. Take examples of high profile cases happening in our country which are now coming out… Crime always leaves a mark and can surface anytime,” the 42-year-old Anoop told IANS.

Did being a part of a show which unearths truths on the crimes happening in India affect him personally?

“Initially, I used to get very disturbed,” said Anup.

“Doing these kind of stories… It was very heavy, but now I feel that there is a great positive change in my life. My point of view towards life has changed. I have become very positive and there’s a change in me as a person as well,” said the actor, who will also be seen in few episodes of the web series ‘The Test Case’.

Generally, actors are expected to celebrate if they reach a landmark on the work front like Anup has scored 1,600 episodes as an anchor. But the actor doesn’t feel it is a “nice thing to celebrate episodes of a crime show”.

However, the actor feels good that the show has brought about a change in people’s lives.

“The show has been accepted by the audience very well. It has been on air for almost ten-and-a-half years now and I have been anchoring it for so long. The satisfying part is the kind of feedback you get from the people.

“People say to me, ‘You know when you talk and give some kind of an analysis of the whole crime in the episode, we get some kind of an intimation, an awareness’,” said Anoop.

“It is not that you use it on daily basis, but it is something that it is in the back of your mind and keeps you alert and if such a situation comes to mind, then you will get to know and deal with it with certain tactics. I think there are positive outcomes from the episodes,” he added.

Bollywood and television shows are often blamed for inspiring real-life crimes. But actor Anup Soni, who has for long been anchoring the reality-based ‘Crime Patrol’ TV show, says it is stupid on an individual’s part to be influenced by reel drama.

While the show has had a positive impact on him, Anoop says it is an individual’s choice as to which path should be taken in the end.

“If somebody commits a crime after seeing this show, then he is stupid and by that logic, I should be the first one to commit a crime as I am there in all 1,600 episodes of it! I would have learnt the tactics… That is just an excuse.

“It’s your choice that which path you want to follow. In all dramas, the criminal is caught in the end, some get caught early, some take time, but eventually everyone is caught. Take examples of high profile cases happening in our country which are now coming out… Crime always leaves a mark and can surface anytime,” the 42-year-old Anoop told IANS.

Did being a part of a show which unearths truths on the crimes happening in India affect him personally?

“Initially, I used to get very disturbed,” said Anup.

“Doing these kind of stories… It was very heavy, but now I feel that there is a great positive change in my life. My point of view towards life has changed. I have become very positive and there’s a change in me as a person as well,” said the actor, who will also be seen in few episodes of the web series ‘The Test Case’.

Generally, actors are expected to celebrate if they reach a landmark on the work front like Anup has scored 1,600 episodes as an anchor. But the actor doesn’t feel it is a “nice thing to celebrate episodes of a crime show”.

However, the actor feels good that the show has brought about a change in people’s lives.

“The show has been accepted by the audience very well. It has been on air for almost ten-and-a-half years now and I have been anchoring it for so long. The satisfying part is the kind of feedback you get from the people.

“People say to me, ‘You know when you talk and give some kind of an analysis of the whole crime in the episode, we get some kind of an intimation, an awareness’,” said Anoop.

“It is not that you use it on daily basis, but it is something that it is in the back of your mind and keeps you alert and if such a situation comes to mind, then you will get to know and deal with it with certain tactics. I think there are positive outcomes from the episodes,” he added.

Expressing her admiration for Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray, veteran actor and theatre artist Shabana Azmi on Friday said she would have loved to act in all the films Ray made.

"Every single one of them… Anything he would offer me," Shabana said at a session on Ray's film SHATRANJ KE KHILADI (1977) at the Tata Steel Kolkata Literary Meet here.

Shabana, who herself acted in the film based on Munshi Premchand's short story, said she was overwhelmed to get an offer from Ray at such an early stage of her career.

"I was so overwhelmed that the great Satyajit Ray was offering me anything at all. I put down the phone and picked it back up and put it down again, to actually believe that it was Ray talking to me," she exclaimed.

"I was very young then. I had just entered the film industry and I must say that I wasn't even familiar with the story except for the surface because Premchand was somebody so revered that time. So what I concentrated on was the only three days that I worked in the film."

Talking about Ray's mastery in cinema, she said the innovative change at the end of the film was so wonderful that it evoked discussions on how much creative freedom can be given to a filmmaker without destroying the essence of a book.

Reminiscent of her first interaction with the prolific filmmaker on the film set, Shabana explained how Ray's suggestions and thinking fascinated her.

"When I reached the studio on the first day, I was in jeans and T-shirt. Ray shook my hand, said get into your costume, then we will talk.

"I did not have the courage to ask him, why wasn't he saying anything to me? Then when I got into my costume, I realised that the costume demanded a certain posture with which I sat.

"Then he came into the room and said in those jeans and I don't think I would have been able to communicate with you about what I want from the character. I thought that was fantastic," she said.

Though her screen time in the film was less, the actress said she considers herself to be lucky to have made the cut.

Expressing her admiration for Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray, veteran actor and theatre artist Shabana Azmi on Friday said she would have loved to act in all the films Ray made.

"Every single one of them… Anything he would offer me," Shabana said at a session on Ray's film SHATRANJ KE KHILADI (1977) at the Tata Steel Kolkata Literary Meet here.

Shabana, who herself acted in the film based on Munshi Premchand's short story, said she was overwhelmed to get an offer from Ray at such an early stage of her career.

"I was so overwhelmed that the great Satyajit Ray was offering me anything at all. I put down the phone and picked it back up and put it down again, to actually believe that it was Ray talking to me," she exclaimed.

"I was very young then. I had just entered the film industry and I must say that I wasn't even familiar with the story except for the surface because Premchand was somebody so revered that time. So what I concentrated on was the only three days that I worked in the film."

Talking about Ray's mastery in cinema, she said the innovative change at the end of the film was so wonderful that it evoked discussions on how much creative freedom can be given to a filmmaker without destroying the essence of a book.

Reminiscent of her first interaction with the prolific filmmaker on the film set, Shabana explained how Ray's suggestions and thinking fascinated her.

"When I reached the studio on the first day, I was in jeans and T-shirt. Ray shook my hand, said get into your costume, then we will talk.

"I did not have the courage to ask him, why wasn't he saying anything to me? Then when I got into my costume, I realised that the costume demanded a certain posture with which I sat.

"Then he came into the room and said in those jeans and I don't think I would have been able to communicate with you about what I want from the character. I thought that was fantastic," she said.

Though her screen time in the film was less, the actress said she considers herself to be lucky to have made the cut.

Noted actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui was welcomed with a packed house in the front lawns of Diggi Palace as he arrived to participate in a session at the ZEE Literature Festival themed on his upcoming film which charts the life of Saadat Hasan Manto.

With the crowds going gaga over the GANGS OF WASSEYPUR star, loud cheers and whistles resonating in the pristine venue, the organisers had quite a task to put things in order before the session kicked off. And when it finally did, the excitement only grew.

Siddiqui said that he chose Manto for what he stood for.

"He was a big fighter for free speech. Manto had always been true and wrote what he saw around him. The greatest challenge for me was that I was not like him. I am not like Manto. I tell lots of lies. I had to listen to my director and really had to purify myself (I was very polluted) before I began shooting," he said.

The actor further stressed upon the fact that he was so engrossed in the role of Manto that he "could not think anything else" and was caught in Manto's state of mind for a long time. Now that the shooting is over, he is trying hard to get out of that frame of mind so that he can focus on other films, films that are not necessarily artistic in their content.

"I want to do artistic films but also commercial films because I need the money and because I need the money I continue to make films," he said. It was also revealed during the session that Siddiqui did not charge a "single penny" for Manto and did the movie free of cost.

He said that he has come a long way in Bollywood and has learnt "to balance between artistic films and commercial films.

The actor relished that one role he wishes to play is that of Dilip Kumar from yesteryears movie MUGHAL-E-AZAM. "People underestimate my personality and say that I can only be a villain and do a certain kind of films but I want to do Dilip Sahab's role and show that I can do Royal-type roles too," he said on a lighter note.

"I want to be both an actor and a star," he maintained.

Noted actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui was welcomed with a packed house in the front lawns of Diggi Palace as he arrived to participate in a session at the ZEE Literature Festival themed on his upcoming film which charts the life of Saadat Hasan Manto.

With the crowds going gaga over the GANGS OF WASSEYPUR star, loud cheers and whistles resonating in the pristine venue, the organisers had quite a task to put things in order before the session kicked off. And when it finally did, the excitement only grew.

Siddiqui said that he chose Manto for what he stood for.

"He was a big fighter for free speech. Manto had always been true and wrote what he saw around him. The greatest challenge for me was that I was not like him. I am not like Manto. I tell lots of lies. I had to listen to my director and really had to purify myself (I was very polluted) before I began shooting," he said.

The actor further stressed upon the fact that he was so engrossed in the role of Manto that he "could not think anything else" and was caught in Manto's state of mind for a long time. Now that the shooting is over, he is trying hard to get out of that frame of mind so that he can focus on other films, films that are not necessarily artistic in their content.

"I want to do artistic films but also commercial films because I need the money and because I need the money I continue to make films," he said. It was also revealed during the session that Siddiqui did not charge a "single penny" for Manto and did the movie free of cost.

He said that he has come a long way in Bollywood and has learnt "to balance between artistic films and commercial films.

The actor relished that one role he wishes to play is that of Dilip Kumar from yesteryears movie MUGHAL-E-AZAM. "People underestimate my personality and say that I can only be a villain and do a certain kind of films but I want to do Dilip Sahab's role and show that I can do Royal-type roles too," he said on a lighter note.

"I want to be both an actor and a star," he maintained.