‘ No other student has achieved the success SRK has’ Barry John, the man behind SRK

No conversation with Barry is complete without a question or two about SRK. He is often credited with SRK’s success as an actor. How does that feel? “The credit goes to SRK that he learned all that he needed to launch himself to the highest galaxy of global stars,” says Barry.

He was Delhi’s resident authority on all things theatre and also on info related to Shah Rukh Khan’s early struggle as an aspiring actor and drama student. But ever since Barry John shifted base to Mumbai in 2007, the tempo of theatre activities in the city has somewhat slackened. But, Delhi’s loss seems to be Mumbai’s gain as Bollywood has found an actor in Barry.

‘I’m working in my sixth film’
This year alone, Barry has been part of three movies – Teen Patti, Thanks Maa and the forthcoming Tere Bin Laden. Talk to him about his flourishing career in B-town and Barry says, “It’s too soon to talk of my visibility in Bollywood. At my age, it may be ridiculous as well. I am content to do what small roles I can, to further my education. But, you have to be in Mumbai to be available for the opportunities that do arise. I have been in Mumbai for about three years now, and I am working on my sixth film, and this through a period of economic recession when these other films were indefinitely shelved.”

‘I was keen on one-on-one interaction with AB’
In Teen Patti, Barry is the pompous dean of the institute Amitabh Bachchan teaches in, and in Thanks Maa, he plays the role of a priest. In Tere Bin Laden, he is an American CIA agent. “The role of the dean in Teen Patti was the consequence of having led the training workshop for the newcomers in the cast. I was keen for one-on-one interaction with Bachchan. I did not associate with the character in real life – he is far too pompous and moralistic for my liking.”

‘B’wood is about making money’
Ask him about the difference between his earlier habitat and the current one, both geographically and professionally, and Barry says, “Theatre and Bollywood are as different as chalk and cheese! Theatre is a small, intimate world, which is actor-friendly, humane and democratic. But Bollywood is big, brash, loud and hierarchical, because it’s an industry and it’s all about making big money.”