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Asif Seth

The loud introvert!

I still have to get used to being recognised on the streets. But I manage

A loud introvert? Isn’t that an oxymoron - like hot ice, cruel kindness and slow haste. Semantics apart, that’s the description that best fits Asif Seth, MTV’s new VJ, who can be seen on MTV Cinemascope.

It’s safe to say that Asif has a talent for drama. Check out this eminently quotable quote - “You are only as good as you dare to be bad. It’s not failure that hurts, but the fear of failure”. Get that? Not that Asif has to fear anything, especially “fear of failure” ’cos this guy has kinda got it made, hasn’t he?

“Not really,” says the introverted-extrovert (or is that extroverted-introvert! Well, whatever). “But, I’m having fun, and loads of it.” And why shouldn’t he. After all, he was one among three lucky souls to get through the MTV’s nation-wide search for new VJ-in talent.

In any case, this ain’t the first time that Asif has faced the camera or acted - “VJ-ing is nothing but acting,” says Asif. He has acted in several Shakespeare plays in the Bard’s own country; he also has a diploma in FIlms, TV, Radio and Theatre Direction from the Arts International College, York City, England. He has, for as long as he can remember wanted to “act”. But his “non-chocalate hero” looks effectively put paid to that. “ANd,I don’t have either connections or Godfathers in the industry. So...,” shrugs Asif. So, he decided that he would direct rather than act. Ergo, the diploma.

Post-diploma, he returned to India, and on an impulse decided to enter the MTV VJ hunt. The rest, as they say, is history. But making VJ doesn’t mean that his acting ambitions are on hold. “Maybe it will pen up doors,” he reasons. But Asif is aware that VJs are generally considered bad actors and labelled “dumb”. “That’s totally uncalled for,” he complains. “Being constantly funny on television requires invention, and therefore, some intelligence.” Point-taken.

A self-confessed movie buff - no wonder MTV got him to co-host a movie show! - Asif says that he likes nothing more than to watch movies, dissect movies, criticise movies and appreciate movies “all day and night long”. “I just love movies. Period,” he says. He is also a self-confessed music buff with a marked leaning for ’70s and ’80s music. “I love R.D. Burman, Kishore Kumar, the Beatles, Led Zepp, Dors, U2, Sting and Dire Straits. Among the ’90s bands I like Alanis Morrissette and The Cranberries. The rest I can tolerate, but I don’t understand,” he confesses.

So, as Asif waits for that one call that’ll change his life, he is “having a ball” as a VJ. “Like I said, I ain’t complaining, yet,” he says. His only complaints? “I still have to get used to being recognised on the streets. But I manage,” he says. Ain’t that the kind of compromise we would all love to make!

Controversy stalks Asif

Even before he has had time to settle in and tastes his success, MTV VJ Asif is embroiled in a needless controversy. Rakesh Choudhary, the director of the daily soap Intezar Aur Sahi (DD-1) has accused the actor-VJ of being “unprofessional” and thrown him out of the serial after shooting for 40 episodes.

“The moment he got selected as a MTV veejay, Asif became very unpredictable. He would’nt allot dates for shooting and if he did, he wouldn’t report on the sets. Finally, I got fed up and replaced him with another actor,” said Choudhary. Asif was playing the main lead in the daily of which 27 episodes have been aired.

Choudhary says that he’s one who gave Asif a break on the small screen. “I introduced him in my serial Ashiana and at that time he was very nice. He never gave me any trouble till the time he became VJ,” Rakesh said.

When contacted, Asif had a completely different story to narrate. He says things were “disorganised” at Samvaad. He avers that once he was selected by MTV, he had informed Rakesh that he would allot dates on a “first-come first-served” basis. “I am thankful to Rakesh for giving me a break, but the fact of the matter is that their production was very disorganised. I told Rakesh that it would be in everybody’s interest if he replaced me with another actor,” says Asif.

The last, clearly, hasn’t been heard on the subject yet.