SUMEET SAIGAL

To television with hope

Cine-discard, Sumeet Saigal, makes his TV debut with Himesh Reshammiya’s Aangan, which debuts on Zee TV in March. He also has Ashok Shekhar’s Shaan in the works, and says that his commitment to television will hinge on how the viewers react to him.

He was not entirely unsuccessful on the big screen. Having made his debut at the age of 19 in the mid-80s, Sumeet Saigal worked 48 films over a seven year period, most of which were box-office disasters. But he did not have his share of success and recognition with films like Sauten Ki Beti, Sauda and Nyay Anyay. And just when the going was becoming easy, for more reason he decided to retreat from the limelight and arclights.

Now, after a long hiatus, he is poised to make a comeback; not on the big screen but on television. Sumeet is another addition to the long list of cine actors who have discarded their inhibitions and found a safe sanctuary in television.

Between 1994 and 1995, Sumeet worked in just one film, Sauda a remake of Indecent Proposal. It bombed. And for the next three years, Sumeet did precious little by way of acting. Instead he preferred to concentrate on his family business. Sumeet maintains that he did film offers once in a while - most of them from serials - but he preferred to lie low.

And then, out of the blue, he decided that he would, after all, do television. “I thought that to be in circulation, it is important that my face be seen be seen and I be talked about,” he says. But television after 48 released films? “Why not,” he retorts. “It is a very big medium and it’s still growing and it gives you good money, too. Moreover, you meet people and you are in the thick of things. And as far as the basic work is concerned there is no difference between cinema and television.”

And just as he was making up his mind about television, he got an offer from Ashok Shekhar for Shaan, a television adaptation of Arthur Hailey’s classic novel, Hotel, which is slated for telecast in the near future. On its heels came an offer from Himesh Reshammiya for his mega family drama, Aangan, which is slated to go on Zee TV from March. Aangan will mark Sumeet’s debut on television.

Aangan has a high-profile starcast and it has 13 characters. So won’t Sumeet be lost in the crowd? “No, I am playing one of the four important characters with a definite track and graph,” he says assuredly. “It’s an important role which has a proper presentation and an importance in the story.”

Besides Shaan and Aangan, Sumeet has shot for two more serials. One is Yeh Tera Ghar Yeh Mera Ghar, a musical-comedy in which he plays a singer. The second is Lakeer, which has Sumeet in the role of a business tycoon.

Sumeet wants to be very choosy about his roles. “I am not a newcomer who wants to grab everything that comes his way,” he reasons. “There is no point in doing five serials if only one out of the five is good. I have reached a stage where it is important that I do meaty roles rather than waste myself in inconsequential roles.”

Sumeet may not have had a dream debut on the big screen but he did have reasonably good start to his career. In his debut film, Imandaar he acted opposite the likes of Dilip Kumar and Sanjay Dutt. But the first film that hit the screen was Insaniyat Ke Bandhan. By 1992, he had worked in 47 films. He then decided that he would get choosy, and refused a clutch of offers. “I thought it was time that I did some good films for which I would be remembered,” he recollects. So for two years he did nothing on the acting front. Sauda came and went without any trace. “But if it had been a hit, the story would have been different,” he says wistfully.

Looking back, Sumeet admits that his decision to cut back on film offers was ill-timed. “Actually the timing was wrong,” he reasons. “I did not have a backlog of films under production. So all of a sudden I was out of circulation and he industry felt that I didn’t want to work. However, I have no regrets for the way things turned out; I believe in destiny.”

The glamour and grandeur of the silver screen still fascinates Sumeet. So, film offers are still welcome, but with certain conditions. “I will do films but only if I am offered important roles even if they are character roles. I don’t want to be wasted and I will do only these films where I will register my presence.”

The same condition applies to television. But he is happy doing television because “I am enjoying what I am doing”. “In all the serial I am doing I have different roles. The best thing about television is that you don’t get typecast if you are careful. You can play any kind of role and the viewers appreciate your performance if you are convincing enough.”

Sumeet’s commitment to television hinges on how he is accepted by the viewers. “If I am accepted and appreciated then my commitment to television is going to be long-term,” he explains. “I am here to do good work and I hope television will fulfil this urge.”