I Have No Qualms Asking for Work: Danish Sait

There are days you have a lot of work and then there are days you have none, Danish Sait tells Film Companion. Also known as Royal Challengers Bangalore’s 12th man Mr Nags, he’s quite a multitasker, juggling between his different creative pursuits. But he acknowledges that every artist on Earth has their productive and non-productive days. “There are days I do only one video and that’s it. I made peace with not having a regular job many years ago. So, it doesn’t rattle me anymore. You sort of befriend that ghost in your mind, that sense of discomfort and go on,” says Danish before adding that he also did two auditions for films recently.

“I think I’ve bombed in more auditions than anybody else. I wake up and I do these things. I constantly keep doing things,” he notes. The artist also regularly reaches out to different directors and actors, trying to find new opportunities in the film industry. He recalls that he once reached out to Nazriya Nazim, asking if there was a possibility of meeting Fahadh Faasil. He also contacted Prashanth Neel, Rakshit Shetty, Lokesh Kanagaraj, Hemanth Rao and others. “I need the job. These guys are extremely talented and probably, I’m not even in their consideration set. It’s fair enough. So, I want to tell them that I really want to work with them. There’s no ego in that.”

He had told Hemanth that he wanted to audition for Sapta Sagaradaache Ello. However, the director felt that there was no particular role in the film that would fit. “And I get that. It’s not like anybody has an agenda against me. It’s just that they are making something and you either fit in their world or you don't,” he says. As an actor, Danish has bagged a few awards but he feels they haven’t led to many new opportunities. However, he reveals that he’s not searching for these roles to seek validation. “When I do a video today on Instagram, I have 3 million people to watch. I’m good and I don’t need it to keep the lights on. I just want to do films because I enjoy the medium of cinema, I love the idea of telling a story. I want to be in one film that reaches everyone and I think every actor wants to do it.” Danish also played a small part in the Hindi series Scoop, streaming on Netflix. The artist says he did that role because it was directed by Hansal Mehta. “He’s one of the best filmmakers in the country and I wanted to just hang out with him. So I don’t mind asking for work but I’ll not do just anything.”

While his stint with RCB as Mr Nags, his innovative Instagram reels and his several other creative pursuits are fulfilling, Danish admits that he doesn’t see a sense of completeness. He says, “I believe that one opportunity can’t completely change your life. You need to do it once and do it ten more times to sustain it. Life adds up in multiple ways and I feel there’s no feeling complete with everything. You feel good and fulfilled which is why I ran around during my college days conducting various shows, be it in Coimbatore or Bangalore Central. It’s about the sense of having done something creative and cool. And films are the pinnacle of creativity with performing arts, costumes, lighting and several other art forms coming together like a symphony. It’s this symphony that I want to be part of and I do hope that in this lifetime, I’ll be able to do it at least more than a couple of times.”