TOI: Doing BV for sake of loyalty-Anup

It has always been a serious call for actor Anup Soni, even when he did a comedy show like 'Comedy Circus'. "When I was offered 'Comedy Circus', I thought I will get a break from my routine serious image on TV, but aisa kuchh nahi hua. Writers ne wahan bhi kanjoosi kari and they made sure that my script was more about intellectual humour than slapstick. I wanted to do out-and-out slapstick comedy," says Soni, who was recently in Lucknow.

But after having done some hard-hitting shows like Crime Patrol and CID, Soni says that people take his onscreen image as his real self. Itne intense roles karne ke baad, everyone thinks I am not at all funny. But if you ask my co-actors, they will tell you how much fun we have on the sets and how funny a man I am. I do crack jokes yaar," he smiles.

On the personal front, Soni, who has just had a baby boy with his second wife Juhi Babbar, is quite happy with the new addition in his family. "Although I hardly get time to spend with my boy, whenever I am free I make sure all my time is his. As of now, Juhi is taking full care of the baby. He is just three months old and needs his mother the most. It's not that I don't want to spend time with him, just that being the bread earner of the family, I actually can't take off just like that and thankfully Juhi doesn't expect anything from me," he says.

But a lot has changed for Soni in these three months since his son was born. "Having a baby is a big responsibility. Juhi and I have not been able to step out of the house for social gatherings, even where our presence is indispensable," he says.

And because of this new responsibility, the couple had to refuse to participate in a dance reality show recently. "Juhi and I were recently offered Nach Baliye, but we had to refuse the offer mainly 'coz physically, Juhi will not be able to take so much Stress and also, our baby needs her right now," he rues.

Soni explains how he wanted to take paternity leave from work but couldn't do it, "Waise toh paternity leave jaisi cheez actors ke liye hoti nahi hai. But I wanted to take off from my show Balika Vadhu, when my son was born but couldn't as at the same time Smita Bansal, my co-actor had gone on maternity leave."

Ask Soni about his track on Balika Vadhu not being so prominent and he promptly replies, "I am doing Balika Vadhu not for my track but because of my loyalty towards the show. It's been five years since I have been a part of the show, and now mera track show pe achha hai ya nahidoesn't matter at all. Plus, I am not shooting for Balika Vadhu daily; I go on the sets as and when required."