Ajatshatru: Films didn't work for me

You began with the small screen, switched over to films and are now back on TV.
It is not a case of angoor khattein that I am back on TV. It's just that I wanted to do films. I wanted to try them out; I wanted to satisfy myself. I made my big screen debut with Vinay Shukla's Godmother, followed by films like Mahesh Manjrekar's Hathyar and Vikram Bhatt's Footpath and Inteha.

Things did not work out?
The films didn't work. As an actor, I was looking to see where I could fit in. I was looking at doing good character roles. Moreover, I did not want to get into the daily TV soap grind of shooting every day, leaving me no time for anything else.

So you got back to TV?
I was always getting offers for TV. I was offered the role of Mihir after Amar Upadhyay exited Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi. In fact, producer B P Singh offered me a role in CID five years back. I do get offers for dailies but I do not want the added hassle of juggling dates. I shoot for about seven days for Remix and 16 days for Special Bureau.

But you still want to do films?
I do have films on hand. Now I am looking at doing good work, not just acting.

What's next as ACP Ajatshatru in Special Bureau?
There will be a romantic track with journalist Sunidhi (Shweta Salve) and me. All this while I was avoiding her, but now I will woo her.

On the big screen Anoop Soni will be seen in

• Prakash Jha's Apaharan
• Anubhav Sinha's Tathastu
• Kamal Sadanah's Karkash

shaheen@mid-day.com