Nude scene about trauma, says Neil

���Thehumiliation of a convict when he is stripped, is akin to a man beingraped.���
Weren���tthere inhibitions when you shot for a seemingly frontal nude scene in MadhurBhandarkar���s Jail?
I was doing a realistic film. Before doingbold cinema, one does have certain inhibitions. I had to first understand thecharacter graph. We are shooting the film in chronological order.Jail is abouta subject that the common man isn���t exposed to. We didn���t want toshow things that seemed artificial. My character is being frisked and it���simportant to portray it as real as possible. I didn���t want to do it aspart of any gimmick or as a publicity thing for the film. This scene forms thecrux of the film. The humiliation of a convict when he is stripped, is akin to aman being raped. Madhur has shot it very nicely so that the viewers are notscandalized. As an actor, I don���t think any man should be inhibited. Morethan the shame of shooting such a scene, it was the trauma of the characterthat���s shameful. After getting comfortable with the surroundings, I wasokay because I knew the scene was being wellshot.
What���s the boldest actthat you���ve seen in any cinema ��� Indian orotherwise?
Kate Winslet in Titanic. It was all about boldnesstransforming into beauty.
Do youthink you are setting a benchmark for Indian actors to be bold?
Allour actors are very comfortable with their bodies. I see no reason why theyshouldn���t go ahead and do it. Bold acts are not about the looks.They���re about bringing out emotions in the moment. Why are clothes worn?In Hindi, we say: ���Izzat dhakne ke liye kapde pehente hai hum. Jab izzatutar do, toh uske upar kya beet tihain?���
You���ll also beshooting a bath sequence with 40 inmates where you would be shown wearing yourbare essentials...
I don���t see any problem if it���spicturised correctly. Why should people not accept the truth? This is realcinema. People are not aware of life behind bars. Had I not done this film, Iwould never have known about these disturbing facts in a convict���s life.
Shooting such a scene won���t be a problem forme.
Frontal nudity is common inforeign cinema. Should a subject so demand, would you do a frontal nude scenewhere parts of your body won���t be hidden behind a wall as one sees in thestills in Jail?
Let���s go with the times. I���m not toosure whether our audience would accept that now. Bandit Queen had a veryaesthetically shot nude scene. I think we should have the courage to show theimportance of such moments.