MUMBAI: “I look for verbs and graphs in a role before signing a film,” says actor Vinay Pathak with a straight face.

Pathak, who will soon be seen in Bheja Fry, which releases on 13 April 2007, is anxious. The reason he says, is that he is the face of the film, which is based on idiots and he plays the pivotal idiot in it.

Explaining the ‘verbs and graphs’ theory, Pathak says, “It is essential to get into the skin of every character that I play.” How exactly does he do that? “I read the script over and over again to understand a particular character. Then I try looking for verbs, which means that the character has to allow me to do more and think less. Since the medium is audio visual, my actions get noticed and acknowledged more than anything else. Furthermore, it is very important for that particular character’s graph to progress with the film.”

How simple was it to play an idiot in Bheja Fry? “If I tell you it was easy playing this idiot character, then you will think it must have come naturally because I must actually be an idiot. I would rather say that since I am not an idiot by birth, it was tough to enact this character. I had to shed all my layers of intelligence.”

“Although humour comes naturally to me, it does not imply that it is simpler for me to play comic roles and tougher to play serious roles,” insists the actor.