Former Bond villain Toby Stephens turns to Bollywood

When British actor Toby Stephens learnt of his role in Ketan Mehta’s Mangal Pandey-The Rising, the first thing he did was try to locate ancestors who might have served in India. ‘‘Sadly, I couldn’t find anyone, but I did read a lot on the mutiny of 1857,’’ says Stephens, who plays Captain Gordon of the East India Company.

His character develops a friendship with Pandey (Aamir Khan) and a soft corner for Jwala (Amisha Patel). A sensitive man of integrity, he’s constantly torn between his friendship with Pandey and duty - reports Express India.

Stephens’ first experience in an Indian film ended up being a lesson in cinema he’s not likely to forget soon. ‘‘I’ve done things here that I’d never do back home, like shooting in 110 degrees with 800 extras all suited up. We just don’t do things on such an epic scale,’’ he says. The actor wasn’t a complete Bollywood fresher, though. ‘‘BBC Channel 4 used to have these Indian film festivals and I’ve watched quite a few like Lagaan and Salaam Bombay,’’ he says.

Stephens’ reputation beat him to Mumbai, but the compliments weren’t exactly what he was expecting. ‘‘Everybody insisted that they’d seen me in Lagaan. I went hoarse trying to convince them otherwise,’’ he laughs, glad that Capt Gordon breaks away from the stereotype of the evil Brit in Hindi cinema.

But on his home ground, playing the hero’s nemesis is familiar territory, thanks to his role as Gustav Graves in the Bond flick Die Another Day. His name has also come up in discussions about the next 007. ‘‘I’m happy with the diverse nature of my roles. Once you’re Bond, there are too many expectations.’’

Unaware of Khan’s penchant for playing pranks on his co-stars, Stephens says he fell prey to quite a few shenanigans. ‘‘He’d suddenly come out of nowhere and scare people. In spite of that, he’s an actor who’s very concerned about his performance. I’ve learnt that from him,’’ he says.

Luckily for Stephens, he also managed to pick up the two basics of any Bollywood production—dancing and Hindi—fairly easily. ‘‘I’m not a dancer at all, so in the Holi sequence with Amisha, I’m glad people are subjected to only a few of my moves,’’ he laughs. The actor spent months memorising Hindi sentences from a CD Khan sent him.

The Londoner was en route to India on 7/7, but says he wasn’t shocked by the attacks. ‘‘We were expecting this, no one was really surprised.’’

Though a tour route isn’t on the agenda this time, Stephens is keen to return and visit Kerala. As for a lustrous tan, that’s not likely either. ‘‘I’m British, I just go plum red.’’

The Rising will release on August 12 after the sixth Harry Potter offering, with its familiar crew including Professor McGonagall. And Capt Gordon has an indelible link with the professor. In the movie, McGonagall is played by Stephens’ mother Dame Maggie Smith.

Thanks to `JP` for the alert.

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