Dangling the carrot8230; again

Are you excited about the re-play?

There is excitment but also apprehension about how it will be received. Two decades ago, there was only one channel, Doordarshan, today there is a plethora of them.

Will Karamchand retain all his peculiar characteristics?

Of course he will continue to be a carrot-chewing detective. There are no major changes except for the fact that, like me, he is older by 20 years.

You will have a new 8216;Kitty8217;8230;

Yes but it8217;s not fair to compare Sushmita Mukherjee with the new girl Sucheta Pavase. Sushmita is a trained and seasoned actress while Sucheta is a young talented girl. Both are different personalities.

How do you take the serial forward?

Ideally, as an actor I would have liked them to give some explanation about what had happened to the detective, where he had disappeared for 20 years and why he has made a comeback. But that hasn8217;t been addressed in the serial. The channel Sony and the director thought it better to bring it on as a fresh series.

You must remember that there is a whole section of viewers that is ignorant about the earlier Karamchand. This will be a new show for them.

How keen were you to play the role when the director approached you?

I confess I don8217;t believe in re-runs. But I have a long-standing relationship with the director Pankaj Parashar. In a way he was instrumental in making me popular.

But you are doing Naya Office Office, a kind of a sequel to Office Office?

When Naya Office Office came to me I looked at the other choices in the medium and found nothing to my interest. Obviously, I cannot be a part of saas-bahu sagas. Naya 8230; was the only serial that was socially safe, culturally decent and giving insights into the functioning of a common man and his problems, with humour.

You are known for your comedies8230;

I like to laugh at myself and make others laugh. I have done a lot of serials which aren8217;t comedies like Neem Ka Ped, Lifeline and Kab Tak Pukaroon but the sitcoms stand out because in general, humour sells.

Your take on comedies these days?

Well, each to his own. But I expect a better sense of humour. Vulgarity takes top precedence. Humour, actually, lies in real-life situations.

Which of your films are you looking forward to?

There is Blue Umbrella, where I play a shopkeeper, Dharm in which I am a pandit, Halla Bol where I am a theatre activist and Good Sharma where I am some kind of a landlord.

Are you happy with your son Shahid Kapoor8217;s career?

Yes, I am happy. He8217;s assured of bigger things not just in terms of stardom but as an actor too. He won8217;t be looked upon as a loverboy which will be his main triumph. Right now, he is choosy, which is sensible because you need to have better choice of characters to portray.

Any favourites from his films?

I liked him in Vivah. The character hardly had anything to offer. It was the way Shahid developed it with subtle nuances that gave life to the character. I also loved his performance in Fida but I think the climax was all wrong.