Tedhi Baat Shekhar Ke Saath seems to be a straight rip-off of Prabhu Chawla’s Seedhi Baat.
Well, it has a mix of many talk shows; BBC Hardtalk, Karan Thapar’s Devil’s Advocate and of course, Seedhi Baat. At the same time, it is not a spoof or caricature of these shows. There will one interviewee, that’s me, and one interviewer Gurpal Singh. The whole interview will be conducted in a tongue-in-cheek manner. The humour will not be obvious, we will just focus on the idiosyncrasies of the interviewee and indulge in slight one-upmanship, which can turn out to be sarcastic and sometimes a little wicked. If you have seen Prabhu Chawla’s show, you must have observed that sometimes he is really rude to the guest who in turn gives some stupid answers and the whole thing turns out to be very funny. That, in short, is the essence of my show. It is being produced by my company Windmill Entertainment.

Who can we expect on the show?
Anyone and everyone from a London-based fashion designer from London, a Bollywood filmstar, a cabbie from Jalandhar, a beggar from nowhere or an electrician. In all, there will be 52 different characters on the show and all these will be played by Yours Truly. However, let me clarify that the intention is not to demean anybody.

What is the idea behind the show?
Often on news channels you find weird people giving interviews. From MLAs, film critics, lawyers to doctorsall are giving interviews,which are generally used as fillers. Most of the time you don’t know where the interview is going. I thought it would be interesting to peep into the minds of these people. Also, the greatest high for any actor is to play different characters. However, if I want to play 100 different characters in Bollywood, I will have to wait for 300 years! That is because unlike in Hollywood where a Robert De Niro can play an autistic and a psychopath, in Bollywood if you are successful in one role, you are stuck with that image. Through this show, I will be able to break through the stereotype and play varied characters.

Won’t your characters be based on real people?
Not always. Whenever we find real characters with idiosyncrasies, we will incorporate references. However, we will not name them.

Won’t it get controversial?
Why should it, when we are not naming anyone? There can be five people with such peculiarities. Also, we are not trying to make it controversial with nasty or demeaning words.

Why did you choose Gurpal Singh as your partner-in-crime?
I had seen him in some show and picked him. I am glad I did, he is wonderful. He has a serious demeanour, a tongue-in-cheek humour and his nature can screw your (the interviewee’s) happiness.

What’s happening with Movers And Shakers?
It is in the pipeline. Since it is an expensive show, I have put it on the backburner due to the recession.

How is Dekh Bhai Dekh progressing?
We haven’t started shooting yet. It will go on the floors in September. Anand (Mahendroo) is looking for the lead girl opposite Adhyayan. He will be producing a reality show around it to scout for the girl. The winner will be cast as the heroine. Adhyayan is currently training for his role as an army chap and a soccer player. He gets up at 5’clock to work out and train as he has to look the tough man in uniform. Soccer won’t be a problem because he was playing it in school.

Will the entire Dekh.. cast be in the film?
Yes, except for Dadaji who is no more. The rest of us including Sushma Seth, Farida Jalal, Bhavna Balsaver and Navin Nischol will be there in the film. In the serial, I had a son who is now grown up and will be played by Adhyayan.

Is the film taking off from where the serial ended or will it have a different story?
The basic premise will be the same, as in there will be a joint family. However, the focus will be on Adhyayan’s romantic track. It’s about how Bhavna, who plays my wife, is confused about the situation as she always is and how as a father I solve the problem. It is a little like An Officer And A Gentleman.

Talking about your son’s love-life, what’s your take on the Kangana-Adhyayan affair?
They have parted ways, but I have had nothing to do with it. All I had said in an interview was that Adhyayan should concentrate on his career and his love-life should take a backseat. Bas, the media started speculating that I was against their liaison. On the contrary, I don’t believe in meddling in my son’s affairs beyond a point. If he is old enough to vote, he is mature enough to choose his partner. He is young and in that phase where he will fall in love and out of it. As far as I know, Adhyayan did not like the fact that he was being called Kangana’s arm-candy. He wanted to be written about for his work. I think he mulled over it and realised it was not a good thing. Both are ambitious and so must have decided to part ways.

How was your experience in politics? Would you contest again, considering you lost this time?
The experience was great. Many people wondered why I got into it but it was my way of trying and getting closer to the people in Patna. It was payback time and I am planning to build a hospital and film institute there. Everyone talks about how politics and politicians don’t change but I thought the best way to change it was by getting into the system. As for losing the election, it is not surprising. I had only 15 days to campaign. Also, the fact that I joined Congress was in itself hara-kiri. There was a JDU wave and if I had taken any other seat, I would have won. But the challenge lay in going with the Congress, which hasn’t fought elections in Bihar for the last 18 years. My chances of winning were small, but I managed to resurrect the party there. As for contesting next time, I cannot comment on that, but I will definitely continue working for my people and the party.