From wanting to be a gatekeeper at a cinema hall so that he could watch every film to being a reputed actor, many of this Mungerilal’s dreams have come true. Actor Raghubir Yadav, who has worked in critically acclaimed films such as Salaam Bombay, Peepli Live and Newton, was in Chandigarh to adjudge a short-filmmaking event, CineMaestro, organised by Chitkara International School. The actor says he was amazed to see students doing such a commendable job using limited resources and time. He says the film industry today is full of lazy people, who’d rather produce remakes than look for new stories.

Music is your first love. What’s your take on today’s music?

There’s a lot of noise, barely any music. The kind of soulful music made earlier is gone. Every other person is becoming a music director. The technology to improve the quality of music is being misused. The end product is confusing. One neither understands the lyrics nor the music.

From living in Jabalpur to starting a career with Parsi Theatre, and then moving on to Puppet Theatre and National School of Drama Repertory, and finally doing cinema, how has the journey been?

It’s been one hell of a journey and I feel like it’s just the beginning. There’s still a lot to learn. One lifetime is barely enough.

You often say there’s no satisfaction in doing cinema, why?
I’m greedy when it comes to learning. I don’t get satisfaction because I don’t want to. I believe that if we feel satisfied, the learning stops. You don’t grow. I keep finding flaws in my work.

What is ‘The Raghubir Yadav formula’ of getting Oscar nominations?
Honestly, I’m clueless. I just believe you should work hard for your audience and your happiness. Awards follow automatically. I didn’t even know about many of nominations till Newton was nominated and people said “it’s your eighth nomination”. I believe in quality of films rather than quantity.