JD Majethia talks to D Kaushik about creating simple stories with strong concepts and characters that leave a lasting impact
People who can create comedy with characters with a lasting impact on the public memory are dime a dozen. But JD Majethia knows how to strike a chord with the audience with his simple stories which connect with people of all age groups. His recent offering on the small screen is Bh Se Bhade on Zee TV which features veteran actress Sarita Joshi and Deven Bhojani playing the lead role of a person who is exceptionally gifted to take away somebody else’s problems for sometime.
This was a single line story that Majethia was told. He didn’t laugh it off, gave it a thought of day and night and developed it into a concept, which he feels is much-needed at a time when even a six-year-old suffers from stress and tension. “I have always believed in coming up with stories that me and my family would love to watch. And such concepts are not born in a day.
It is generally believed that it is easy to create comedy but I don’t think so. In today’s time there are very less things that people would sit back and watch just to laugh. Comedy comes with its own challenges — the idea should not be old and redundant and it should have component for every member of the family. So when I was given this one-liner I discussed it with people, thought to weave a story around it and my focus was that it should reflect on the problems people face in modern times, in a subtle, comic way. The lead protagonist in the show faces a lot of problems when he takes others’ share too, but he loves spreading smiles,” shared the actor and producer. He stressed that characters are important part of any show and they should be crafted in a manner that people develop an instant liking for them.
“The reason why some comedy shows fail to get an audience is they do not think over the concept and the characters. If you will take examples of the best comedy shows in the past, like Sarabhai vs Sarabhai and Office Office, you will realise that more than stories, it is the characters that have stayed with people. I want to create such characters with some very unique qualities that interest people. I also try to break barriers in my own ways. like most TV shows feature the relationship between a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law but I have worked on an interesting chemistry between a mother-in-law and son-in-law. There is respect, sarcasm and is presented in a very real way,” he added.
Majethia has been a theatre actor and agrees that many of his stories have come from literary works. “Sometimes the idea is picked up from them and whenever I have adapted some work I have given due credit. I think that should be maintained uniformly in our industry. Most of the literary works are relevant to all times and make for wonderful stories,” he added.