Too much work for competition: Hussain
Hussain Kuwajerwala |
"My sister's had a baby," he says happily. "It's been completely family time for me these past few days, because I took a break to go to the US to visit her."
It has been a well-deserved break too, since he has been working hard for the 9X show, Yeh Hai Jalwa. He made it to the finals, along with Ronit Roy and Rakhi Sawant, and he attributes that to hard work. "There is no strategy or game plan that can substitute for plain hard work," he says emphatically. This is not Hussain's first time as a participant on a reality show. He has participated with wife Tina in Nach Baliye 2, which is when the world – and showbusiness – discovered her. "I discovered her as well," he laughs. "I didn't know she could dance like that." And what are her plans for the future? "She doesn't really want to come back to acting. TV is not on her mind," he says.
While on future plans, has the thought of switching over to the big screen crossed his mind? "Look, every actor wants to get into the movies," he says. "But TV is as big as the movies now. There's a merger happening, film actors are coming over to television, so I don't really see a dearth of work or opportunities here either."
There certainly is no lack of work, which is what he reiterates when asked about something Aman Verma had said once. When asked about Hussain taking over from him as anchor of Indian Idol, Aman had told AT, "Hussain is good, but he's not Aman Verma." Hussain laughs when asked for a response to that. "There is too much work in TV — too much for competition," he says. "If there is no Hussain tomorrow, for instance, there'll be someone else to take his place. And Aman is a friend. How you take such comments depends completely on you. You can either get offended, or you can take it sportingly."
Hussain deals with the demanding schedules of his profession with the same nonchalance. "There is a lot of pressure, but then, opportunities don't come again and again," he says.