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| SIMPLICITY |
| Role Call | ||
| You've seen all the saas & bahus. Now check out the sasurs & betas | ||
| Jaskiran Kaur | ||
| Chandigarh, January 30: Most of the prime time, they make for the perfect props, excellent fillers for background space, and how can we forget, for those ek hazaar zoom-in-zoom-out dramatic dipper light shots. But of lately, the women seemed to have turned a l'l softy, and the men are getting to do a bit more than the pallu lugging and rising from the dead courtesy last minute desperate script changes. From the good son, the bad boy, the decent devar to the business tycoon, bhola bhaiyya and dusra, teesra, chautha pati, we check out some of the men on Star Plus's best. The tycoon Mohnish Behl SUYAASH Mehra seems to have jumped right out of an MB. And Mohnish Behl fits the character to the T in Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki because like Darcy, silence speaks more than words in Behl's case. Get him to talk, and he feels experimentation on the tele is dead. ''There is no end to an actor's job, to learning. I believe in myself, I know I am good and I have to deliver,'' he delivers the first few words. But he agrees it takes two to tango, and so his worst nightmare is ''When I get to do the same kind of role.'' From hero to zero to hero again, this time on the tube, Behl, if not elated, is satisfied with the way his career's turned out. ''I did six films and they flopped big time, which blew my career out of proportion. It took me 23 years to find my feet again. I guess the X-gene is carrying all the histrionics in my family,'' he laughs (very rare site), as the reference to context goes to Kajol, Tanuja and his mum, Nutan. ''Tanisha's gotta prove her's now.'' Well, we've seen witnessed that! So, life's been rough and tough, but Mohnish, who always wanted to be a pilot, has learnt to take it easy. ''Drama, comedy and lots of variety. It sells.'' Let's see if Parvati-Suyaash track does.
Manoj Bohra This was the quickest thing that ever happened to him. ''I get a call for another serial. So it was to be or not to be till these guys told me that this will change my life. I said what the heck, let's go.'' And so Manoj Bohra turned hiphop, got the bling bling in order, pierced his brow, pulled his jeans low and jumped into the shoes of the spoilt brat, Prem of Kasautti Zindagi Ki. The serial got a whole new twist, and Bohra's lovin' it. ''It's like an extended alter ego to me,'' he grins, this lad from the theatre and direction world till television roped him in. ''The only thing that sells nowadays is something loud. Audience react to over reaction,'' he shoots his fundas. What next? ''Well, we'll soon be bringing a play to Chandigarh called Plain Crazy About Love.'' Aren't we all! Husband No 1 Ronit Roy Amarr Upadhyay immortalised him. Inder Kumar resurrected him from the ashes. Now, Ronit Roy's living an eternity. Both, as Mihir Virani in Kyunki and Rishabh Bajaj in Kasautti. ''But I enjoy Bajaj's character more. He is more complex, has more shades to him than the black and white Mihir,'' says the man, for whom television was never a planned shift. ''I just didn't have any work,'' he plainspeaks, also running a security agency now by the name of Ace Security and Protection. Talk about the 20-year leap, and he says there'll be lots of transformation. ''You can't have 20 young people and an old man. The commercial value and glam quotient has to be there too. And waise bhi, I never ask for narrations, don't want to know what will happen tomorrow. There are too many ideas bouncing on and off, it's a mixed bag on tele,'' he says, looking forward to ''lots of new things.'' ''Life's been an uphill task, and the change has been drastic and progressive. I take it all very seriously now.'' Right Mr Bajaj! Devarji Ali Asgar Right now, he's dying to do a negative role. ''The bad man Kanhaiya Lal,'' shoots Ali Asgar, Kamal of Kahani. A devotee of a devar and a henpeck of a husband, Ali's got his hands full both in Kahani and Hum Paanch. ''For someone who started as a comedian, a roly poly kid on TV, nobody was willing to consider me for a serious role,'' tells Asgar, who feels that people identify with emotions and ''simply love to cry''. ''Television has the power to reach the masses, take up more issues as the starpower is more. Which is why we took up the widow remarriage on Kahani and also the old age cause,'' spins Asgar, who is also running an NGO, Touch, for the elderly. A jaan on the sets, this man's has everyone laughing and licking their fingers. ''That's courtesy my BA in catering, and jokes is something I live by.'' And this got him in trouble too when he played the candid camera with his starmates! Now that's not what good devarjis do. Big Daddy Cezanne Khan Manoj Bohra's just two years younger to him and he never expected his son would turn out quite like Prem. ''You know why. I am the nice, disciplined, honest, good father and here's this brat of a son I get. I any case, I am too young to play a dad,'' says Cezanne Khan, Kasautti's Anurag, as he weaves his story from supposed to do MBA days to modelling to television. ''Next is Kya Hoga Nimmo Ka,'' Cezanne informs us adding, ''Today, the tele is woman-oriented, and the boom's just begun.'' But like any other actor, his dreams too shine on the big screen, especially English movies. ''Only lead roles.'' Ya, right. PS: We'll check out the new kids on the block next week. |
