When I told my girlfriend I wanted to act, she had a fit!

He wears an animated look, cracks a couple of jokes and smiles warmly. He easily slips in and out of roles -- from comedian to director t...

He wears an animated look, cracks a couple of jokes and smiles warmly. He easily slips in and out of roles — from comedian to director to himself. Satish Kaushik is a man with many faces, all equally funny. Basking in the glory of his latest release, the film, Hum Aapke Dil Mein Rahte Hain, he is contemplating Zee TV’s offer to bring Neetu and Nonie Singh back to Colgate Top Ten, complete with one-liners and foul play. Anupam Kher and Anita Kanwar’s batchmate at the National School of Drama, Satish Kaushik describes himself as a man with “simple thoughts who wants to make people laugh”. Excerpts from an interview with the maker of Colgate Top 10, O Maria and Yeh Shaadi Nahin Ho Sakti by Anuradha Nagaraj:
Will you return to Colgate Top 10 ?
Well, I have been asked by the channel. Before I take a decision, I will have to check with Pankaj Kapoor. When we did the programme, we created the Laurel and Hardy of the small screen. So, both of us have to decide about continuing with this together.

Why was this countdown show a runaway hit?
Comedies require good writers. When Top Ten was being conceptualised I had an instinctive feeling about the language. And then the characters were created. In the show, the characters were doing comedy not the actors, which is why the serial was seen more for the antics of the two brothers than the countdown itself.

Was television a buffer when the film industry had labelled you a “flop director”?
No. Television has taught me a lot of things. When my films weren’t happening, I could either have run after producers for work or done something on my own. I chose the latter. I decided that I wanted people to notice me for the talent I have and subsequently, make it big on my own. The other thing is, I am a working man. I have to always do something and I am not very fussy about the kind of work, just the quality.

What was the most trying thing when you switched to TV?
I used to hate shooting with a small camera. I was trained to make cinemascope films and I was shooting serials with a small camera. In fact, I had given my crew strict instructions that they should not plan any shoots in the vicinity of where films were being shot. It annoyed me and there have been occasions when I have told my unit to pack-up just because there was a film being shot nearby.

Was Bollywood where you always wanted to be?
I am mad about films. I would always be running away from school and college to see the latest release. I would sit with the Patriot newspaper and cross out the movies I had seen every week.

Those days films meant looks and when I told my girlfriend, who said she loved me, about wanting to act, she had a fit. Anyway, it took me a long time to convince people that I was a good actor. But I had no ego and worked as a cashier in a textile mill in Bombay till I got my first break.

You started out as an assistant director with Shekhar Kapoor…
Yes, I worked with him on Masoom. Then Mr India happened. I used to sit in the scripting sessions and since Shekhar knew I acted, he asked me to play this small character. Calendar, of course, turned out to be one of the most loved characters.