Picture Gallery of BBB-No Comments Please - Page 14

N o one can escape his contagious laughter on screen and his maverick direction doesn't go unnoticed either. Deven Bhojani aka Gattu entered the industry as Nitya in Mal- gudi Days. Dekh Bhai Dekh, Ek Mahal Ho Sapno Ka, Office Office and Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai followed later. In a free-wheeling chat Deven talks about Baa Bahoo aur Baby, his character Gattu, and his family. How has the journey on Baa Bahoo aur Baby been so far? Time flies, it's been one and a half years. It may sound clichd, but Hats Off (the producers of the show) is like family. JD (Jamnadas – producer), Majithia Aatish (script-writer) and I have been best friends for 25 years and we've worked on many projects too. The jour- ney has been very exciting. How has the response been? It's been tremendous. I have played many characters till date but Gattu has been the hot favourite among all age groups. My kids love my character, they like it when I drop them at their bus stop because all the other kids go crazy seeing me. I make them feel proud. How different is Deven from Gattu? Gattu and Deven are totally different. I am not even remotely funny. In fact, I am quite reserved. I do my share of masti, but not on the sets. I don't mind kids calling out Gattu and getting friendly with me because I don't expect them to understand the difference between reel and real life. But when older people pull my cheeks I get very angry. So does everyone fear you? Yes, to an extent they do. They call me names, like teacher or inspector, the rea- son being my attitude. But I know for a fact that they all love me too. Even if I miss one meeting, JD says I was need- ed. This makes me feel good. Is there any character on television that you really want to play? Forget other shows, I don't even watch Baa Bahoo Baby when it comes on air! But yes, there was one character, which I really wanted to be and that was Office Office's Mussadilal played by Pankaj Kapoorji. No doubt he did full justice to the char- acter. But I always wanted to play something on those lines… What comes first, acting or direction? Acting and direction are equally close to my heart. It's like making a choice between my mother and father. Who's your biggest critic? My wife is my biggest critic. After every episode, I ask her about my performance, and she is very honest with me. Are you open about work- ing with other production houses? Yes, I am. I don't have a con- tract with Hats Off. In fact, production houses like Bal- aji and UTV have approached me, for acting as well as directing. But I don't take them up because of time constraints.

E arlier I used to get five mar- riage proposals, now I get about 1500. Who wouldn't want a dumb wife?" says Suchita Trivedi. She portrays the character of the daft Meenakshi, the third daughter-in-law of a large Gujarati household in Baa, Bahoo Aur Baby, the Star Plus weekend show. In the industry for over 13 years, Trivedi says it was the conviction of producers JD Majethia and Aatish Kapadia that she could pull off playing Meenakshi, who cries at the drop of a hat. She doesn't believe in voice modula- tion, talks in a monotonous tone, is duh and often the butt of jokes. The reason Trivedi credits her producers for Meenakshi's suc- cess is not because it's a done thing for actors, but because she was not too keen to play the character. "I had given look tests for every other character but Meenakshi, in the hope that JD and Aatish would give in. But then they were insis- tent that if I wanted to prove my versatility as an actress, I should attempt Meenakshi. "In my earlier serials like Ek Mahlon Ho Sapnon Ka and Kahani Ghar Ghar Kii, I had played dom- inating women. And here was Meenakshi, submissive, who did- n't talk back, who was willing to be walked all over. I guess it was time for me to go on the other side of the fence," she smiles. The gamble paid off as she picked up the best actress trophy in a comic role at this year's Indi- an Television Academy awards. "It was a tough win as the other nominees were Ratna Pathak Shah for Sarabhai V/S Sarabhai, Shweta Kawaatra for Sohni Mahiwal, Rajeshwari Sachdeva for Ji Behenji and Divya Dutta for Shanno Ki Shaadi. "They were all playing title roles. Here I was part of an ensemble cast," she says. Trivedi started her career Cam- pus, followed by Imtihaan, Sailaab, Parampara, Gopaljee, Kalakaar, Ek Mahal Ho Sapnon Ka and Kahani Ghar Ghar Kii. She reminisces laughing, "Every time I acted in an inter-col- legiate play, my dad would slap me. Then I think his hands started aching. He gave up. Today, of course, he is proud of me." Like most TV actors, she laments the lack of good roles; "Where is the choice for actors like me? Either we have to be parents to grown-up children or stand at the sidelines. Not just me but Baa, Bahoo Aur Baby has given all its actors well-etched characters." On other interests, she says, "I have a flair for dressing up others. I also have an eye for accessories."

Sucheta Tiwari and Deepshika Sucheta lets her hair down but Deepshika seems to be interested in something else