Alok Nath, Supriya Pathak, Apara Mehta, Rajesh Kumar, Abhishek Awasthi and a host of other talented actors are all set to be your agal bagal with their latest sitcom on SAB TV. ‘It’s a comedy take on issues concerning aam aadmi and the presentation is very hatke,’ the producer assures Sangeeta Yadav at a Press meet held in Mumbai recently
Bauji... aeeye aeeye... apna ashirwad toh dete jaiye...’ said comedienne Rajesh Kumar as he coaxed Alok Nath to step up on the stage and deliver a few ashirwads (read lines). In his usual benevolent manner, bauji opened his own special box of sanskaars ditties and blessings.
No, Alok Nath isn’t promoting his latest spoof or film, he isn’t even playing the lead of yet another sanskaari show on the soap dish. But Bauji is a part of a sitcom! You heard that right, Alok Nath is very soon going to grace the small screen as the head of this ‘funny and mad’ family on SAB TV. And it’s not just him who is at the butt of this joke. Bauji has the versatile Supriya Pathak (who plays an obsessed mausi) and Apara Mehta (who is a saas figure) among other renowned TV actors.
Sound’s differentIJ “The concept of stand-up comedy on TV is pathbreaking and never tried before. The USP are the sets that have been divided into four parts on a single stage like cubical boxes. Though there will be a live audience, there are no judges. The show has no vulgar or toilet humour, it’s a light hearted entertainment show that one can watch with everybody,” Anooj Kapoor, senior EVP and business head, SAB TV says. He tells you that it’s the presentation that makes Agal Bagal..., unique.
Each episode will have at least three-four actors tackling a comic take on the day-to-day problems that people face. With a live audience to cheer up the actors, this hatke comedy promises to tickle the funny bone like none else. “We’ve kept things very subtle and basic and played around with the character names like Khandavi, Khakara, laal, Pillu etc. Every episode will be based around issues that concern aam aadmi. It’s not going to be a satire, but a comic take on the situation,” Ranjit Thakur, the producer of TMABH tells you, adding that this is how American sitcoms are shot. “Stand-up comedy on TV presented in a sidcom format has never been done before in Hindi GEC space. like always we wanted to start a trend,” Thakur says.
Most of the actors in this show have already tried their hands with comedy and have carved a niche for themselves in this genre. Take Supriya Pathak for instance, who became a household name after Khichdi serial. “The best part of this sitcom is that it is not loud, it’s a natural situational comedy where a simple dialogue delivered with a straight face will make the viewers laugh. I’m playing mausi who wants to take credit for everything all the time,” Pathak tells you.
While Pathak will ensure that the loveable mausi appeals to one and all, Rajesh Kumar as laal is all set to make some funny jigs. And it isn’t always about the director giving instructions to the starcast that makes a comedy show work. According to Kumar, the person’s experience and his creativity is equally responsible for making a show a runway success.
“Since all the actors in this show are from the theatre background, we understand the format and prefer to shoot at one go. Apart from the director, we also keep a check on each other’s part and try to put in extra effort to make a particular sequence appear more funny. The comedy here depends on a situation and it’s the enactment that will generate the fun element where every actor plays the lead role,” Kumar says.
While the other actors are busy with interviews and posing for photo-ops, one finds Abhishek Awasthi sulking in a corner. “I’m happy and nervous at the same time. Excited to be a part of the show and nervous because SAB TV is known for its comedy shows. Will our show also fade away into oblivionIJ,” Awasthi voices his concern. But Kumar is confident that the show and the cast will go on and on. “It’s a in-house challenge for us and we’ll do all it takes to be the numero uno comedy show on SAB TV itself,” a confident Kumar says.
Apara Mehta, one of the lead characters of Tu Mere... is upset about the sad state of shows being aired on TV. She tells you that showmakers lack creativity and ideas for fresh content. When any TV show starts, it claims to offer something different to the viewers, but eventually it moves away from the original track. A six-month show is stretched to two to three years. The result, the soap fails to hold the audience’s attention.
“There is an urgent need to revamp the TV viewing experience. Everything has become plastic. Viewers want content where they can relate to it. TV has influencing power and it’s our (the actors’) moral responsibility to show good content,” Mehta says.
‘All thanks to the jokes
AlOK NATH, who has been a part of many spoofs and memes online declares that even though the joke is on him, he doesn’t mind it. Sangeeta Yadav tells you why he is the world’s greatest bauji
How has your popularity as the sanskaari babuji impacted your acting careerIJ
I must admit, the moment I became the butt of all social networking jokes, my career took up by leaps and bounds. Suddenly offers stared pouring in from all different quarters. It was almost as if, logo ke liye mein phir se zinda hogaya’. With SAB TV’s TMABH, I’ll get to explore different layers of comedy. I’ve a film under the Yash Raj banner titled Kill Dill where I’ll be playing a humourous character.
Dil Phere is a movie with Karan Kundra. The third film is titled Aayi Bala Ko Taal Tu where I’ll be playing an opportunist politician. The story is on how corruption has spread its roots in providing better bathroom facility in India.
When did you realise that you could attempt a comedy roleIJ
It’s very strange that I haven’t been offered a comedy film or serial till so late in my career. I’ve always been ready to take it up. But casting directors weren’t too eager. Although TMABH is my debut in a comedy TV show, I feel as if I’ve been a part of comedy shows from my early days. I used to do a lot of comic plays on theatres. Buniyaad left a lasting image and until last year, it became very difficult for me to break that image of serious and religious head of the family and a righteous father.
I left everything in Delhi and came to Mumbai to pursue my acting career. I started earning by doing TV shows, got fame and money but with that a lot of expenses also added up which I wasn’t able to afford. I moved to movies where I was getting similar kind of roles which I didn’t want to do and became jobless. Eventually, I had to accept whatever came my way.
Were you upset upon seeing the memes on youIJ
We were all condoling Farooq Sheikh’s demise when someone pulled a prank on the Internet declaring my death and what would follow. I was completely unaware about the activities online. It was only when my wife started asking me strange questions like whether I slapped someone out of anger is when I got curious. I went to my children— Junhai and Shivank and they showed me the babuji jokes on Twitter. At that time, I was quite upset. But my children said it is fine and asked me to take it as a joke.
How did you end up being a part of the Kejriwal spoofIJ
My daughter wants to be a director and works as a comic sketch artist in All India Bakchod who made jokes on Kejriwal. Her team thought of a spoof involving babuji giving his ashriwad to Kejriwal and Junhai was very upset that I was being dragged into this joke. But I wanted to do the spoof for real. She was thrilled when I told her that I was willing to be a part of the spoof. I became a rapster in one night!
How did you meet the man behind babuji jokesIJ
I was at a news channel for an interview when a man introduced me to this young lad who was supposed to be the brain behind the babuji jokes. I took out my chappal and headed towards him. He started begging for my forgiveness but he was pleasantly surprised when I hugged him back. I said thank you for this fame.
Yeh Mere Agal Bagal Hai
Ritesh Shah with whom I spent my entire college life at Hindu, writer-director Swanand Kirkire and actor Harsh Khurana are close friends of mine. Apart from that, my family
— Rajesh Kumar
I am always surrounded by my dogs. Apart from them, a couple of friends, Anuradha and Gagan, from outside the industry who stays agal bagal in my good and bad times
— Shweta Gulati
My daughter stays with me most of the time. Whatever I do, I do it for her. Also a few friends who are just a call away like Smriti Irani
— Apara Mehta
Kalpana mere agal bagal rehti hai. She is in event management company and we met in a party through a common friend. Most probably, we’ll get married by next year
— Abhishek Awasthi
My family has always been with in my good and bad times as also my guru
— Supriya Pathak