One-on-one with Deven Bhojani

The soft spoken actor is often greeted as Gattu by fans and does not appreciate the loud reactions he gets from people. Here Deven and his wife Jagruti tell talk about their marriage, family life and who the real Deven Bhojani is.

I'm not at all like Gattu
Deven describes himself as "very serious. I talk only business and I'm a little strict being the creative director of the show. I see to it that the director treats the scene the way it should be treated and that the actors perform the scene the way it should be performed.

On screen of course I'm playing Gattu so I have to be humorous and sometimes emotional but I am Gattu then; not Deven Bhojani. Deven Bhojani is quite different from Gattu. That is what my image is. I take up mostly comic roles so people feel that my personal life too will be like a comedy! Some people come up to me and will be all 'ahhh kisa hai' slapping me on the back. I hate that and I get very irritated. People are always treating me like a child. Some bachas even pull my cheeks. They come up and say 'kya Gattu suna. Kya hal hai'. With kids I feel that it's still okay. But adults don't even realize! They've seen me doing other characters but still they treat me like a child. But I don't let them pull my cheeks. I am the father of two kids. I'm 39. I behave in a mature way!"

Deven has been married for 12 years to Jagruti and they have two daughters: Rahi, 11, and Mahi, 6. The couple talks about their arranged marriage:
Deven: Ours was an arranged marriage. Both of us had not fallen in love with anyone else. From our family rishtey aate the and all that but I was very fussy being a typical Virgo. At that time I was buying a house and although I wouldn't be staying there for more than a few years I saw more than 250 flats before I settled on one. So for selecting my life partner I thought I would have to see 1000 girls.

Then one night somebody, a friend advised me and indirectly it occurred to me- marriage is just a risk whether love or arranged. No matter how you choose and the number of girls you see if it's not going to work it's not going to work and if it's going to work then it will.

I had seen one girl who was the typical 'chai nashta lekay aana. ladki dek nai jana…'. That particular girl was a little funny looking. She had a contorted face which made me laugh so I though I can't do this! I can't keep laughing when I see my wife's face. The second girl I saw was Jagruti whom I am married to. I thought "quite good"!

Then for 2-3 months we kept on meeting each other. We went to the temple; we went to Shankar Vilas hotel and even to Holiday Inn. We tried different situations to see how we both behaved. We were trying to observe each other.

After that we decided to go ahead with it. So we got engaged and after the engagement itself we spent about a year before getting married. Finally I said ki ya ya not bad and I was sure- I have to fall in love with this girl. Then actually I did! Now we are happily married for last 12 years.

Jagruti: I used watch his programme, so when I met him it was not the first time that I was seeing him. I watched Dekh Bhai Dekh only because of him. From that time I was his great fan.

My father met Deven and told me he wanted to arrange our marriage. He told me that he belongs to the TV industry. I told my family that I don't have any problem in meeting him as long as he is good. We met and I observed his habits. We had some qualities which were matching. My family inquired about his background- whom he worked with and how his family was. My family liked everything about him so we decided to get married. He came to meet me at my Girgaon home. At that time I knew him as an actor and not as a person. When he came in front of me I realized that he is completely different from how he seems on screen. He is very silent and not funny as he is on his shows. He talks less and doesn't behave loudly or laugh too much. It doesn't mean that he doesn't like to laugh at all. He likes to crack jokes and enjoy himself. He is very understanding. When I met him he explain me everything about his profession and answered my all question perfectly. That's why I never faced any problem when he was under stress or during his struggling days."

Deven: My wife is my biggest critic.
Deven: She appreciates me when I do a good job but she criticizes me also saying, "You could have done better. This scene and that particular reaction were a little loud. You should have controlled your voice and this and that. She's my big critic!"

Jagruti: We all watch his serials regularly whether it is Baa Bahu Aur Baby or it is Office Office. If we don't watch it then we can't tell him about his performance- whether we appreciated it, or to tell him which episode they telecasted or to criticize him. Me and my mother in law wait for him in the night to tell him about his performance. He comes home and shares interesting incidents with us from the sets"

The family is very proud of Deven's accomplishments:
Deven: They are happy. My parent they just keep talking about me to all the relatives and friends. When I go to down to drop my daughters to the school bus they insist, "Daddy aap aao. Go late to the shoot. So I go down with them. All the class mates in the bus will go "arre Gattu Gattu and they'll say "meri papa hai Gattu."

Jagruti: When we go out, people come to us and treat him like he is Gattu. Our daughters never feel odd as they know their father is just doing complete justice to his role. No other comedian has received so much popularity as Deven has. We all feel proud about it. It's not easy to play 20 year old abnormal boy's role when you are 40. It is very difficult to change your moods according to your character immediately. It is very tough to observe such children and enact them. Now people recognize his work. They know that he is versatile actor. The award which he has won is a symbol of appreciation and love from his fans. He is a natural actor and I feel great when he receives any award. He has won awards for acting, directing and as best creative director. It is a symbol of recognition and I feel very proud of him.

Being in the TV industry, Deven feels his family life has suffered:
Deven: My timings are not fixed. I shoot 29 days out of 30 and the timing I leave early in the morning. Today I left my home by 7:15 AM. I reached back at 11:30, 12 or even 1 AM. I hardly get to see my elder daughter. She leaves for school before I wake up and by the time I reach home she is asleep. With my elder daughter especially I miss her a lot. My family comes for my shoot if they're free and I get to spend some time with them.

Family life has suffered to quite an extent but I don't have any choice right now. People say that in the TV industry everybody is insecure. People would die to get this kind of popularity and this kind of work. I feel that I am lucky enough to get such a good role, popularity, money and everything. There're always two sides to a coin. If you're getting so many things then you have to sacrifice something. And I am sacrificing a very big thing- that is my family life.

I try to spend as much time as possible with them and every 3-4 months I take them out for a week or so to near by hill station or abroad so I can spend time with them.

Jagruti: He works for many hours so we even don't ask him for help around the house. We just want him to talk with us and be with us. For us that is more important

According to Jagruti, Deven has changed tremendously in the last 12 years they have been married:

Jagruti: "We have completed 12 years of our marriage. Initially he used to be very busy. He would work for many hours and come in at mid night. After two years of marriage he slowly realized his responsibility and understands that family is also important for man. After our daughter Rahi's birth he became very attached to her. It is the same with our second daughter. In my relationship as well I have noticed many changes like he understands me better. He knows when I have tension and shares his stress with me as well. In early days of our marriage he was very quiet but now he talks much more."