Life's Just ha hee hee-Gattu speaks..

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.