He’s witty and hilarious. He chuckles through the interview and he thinks he’s a useless human being who does very little for the society. His current passion is writing. But he maintains that his interest lies in making people laugh.
n Why and how are you getting into writing?
A couple of my friends, who are into production and filmmaking inspired me to write. They say I waste all my energy talking and jabbering. I could probably put all that down on paper and come up with something interesting. On a daily basis I get around five to six theatre ideas, but I usually don’t pen them down. Besides, 99 per cent of the work that I do is nonsense. Probably when I have children and they see my work, they’ll end up seeing me as some Pidhu the great of Simi Girebaal. I don’t want them to ask ‘Dad is this what you did?’ So that’s what I am doing for now.
n What are you writing about?
It is a script on dysfunctional families. By that, I don’t mean some serious drama. It’s a spoof on day-to-day life situations. I am taking inspiration from my own family for this. Of course, there have been many interesting things that I have come across as I grew up. It is too early to give you all the details. I guess when things are confirmed I will be in a better position to tell.
n What about acting then? Isn’t that your first love?
Television and acting is not my first love. I am a person who could do just about anything if I am interested in doing it. TV in India is still in it’s nascent stage. It’s been some 15-20 years since we’ve had television. I myself grew up watching Chitrahar and Honi Anhoni on Doordarshan. And now we have over 500 channels. I always wanted to do something new and contribute more to the television industry. When I got through as an MTV VJ in the VJ hunt, I started brain storming with the team. We had many environmental spoofs and then MTV Fully Faltoo happened. That was something very new at that time which is why I did it. It was amazing to do such comical shows. Then there were a series of other shows like Semi Girebaal.
n What are your future projects?
I just did Aisha and it was a great experience working with people of my age. I will take it a little slow now. I don’t get a high saying ‘oh I am doing 10 films’. I’ll instead do just one project — be it anything, as long as I do it well. Currently I have been looking into many offers to write scripts. I have already taken up one. There are many more that I am interested in. I will be travelling for now and writing as well. If I get lucky and get some good roles I will lock some. I think my life is pretty useless. I don’t think I contribute to the society in any way.
n Keeping aside all your projects, what is that one thing that you love doing?
If there is anything I love doing, it is to make people laugh. And by that, I don’t mean the cranky laughter that a girl would give looking at me. I like the sound of collective laughter from people.
m sachie@expressbuzz.com