Keeping Up With The Kids

The likes of Rajit Kapur, Shernaz Patel, Kumud Mishra, Asrani, Alok Nath and others are going digital. The online medium is youth-oriented and experience brings a refreshing take to this rather clutter-breaking platform. So, imagine our surprise when we saw the otherwise sanskaari babuji Alok Nath go all Sinskaari on us and dole out gyaan on everything from premarital sex to role-play. The series failed to take off, but it made a point.

At this point in their lives, these actors have seen and done it all on their preferred mediums — TV, films and theatre. The internet is a whole different creature. Alok echoes the sentiment. “I think my contemporaries and I are at a stage when we have been there and done that,” he says, “We are at a stage when the kids have grown up and doing their own thing. We want to do stuff now that excites us because we have done so much. We want to do a variety of stuff and if we get that variety on web, why not?”

Medium doesn’t matter

Speaking to this newspaper a couple of days ago, Satish Shah, who is making his debut in a web series based on his popular TV show Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai, had said, that the medium didn’t really matter. I will be working with the same set of actors and same set-up and it will be as good or better than before,” he told us. 

Indeed, most actors agree that the platform doesn’t really matter. Acclaimed actor Kumud Mishra, believes that they are here to act, and not to worry about which platform it’s shown on. The actor, who played the role of the lovable father Chinmay Sharma in TVF’s latest web series Tripling, says, “I have liked almost all of TVF’s work. They are new people with interesting ideas and that honesty reflects in their work,” he says, of his reasons for working in the show. 

Theatre and film actor Shernaz Patel, who played the role of his wife in the same series, admits that the digital platform is great for people like her who are too scared to commit to television’s huge demands. “Frankly, nobody’s watching television anymore because everyone’s watching web shows. This is the future. Either you embrace it, or you miss out on a wonderful opportunity,” she adds.

Interesting storylines

When Kumud talks of interesting storylines and characters, he isn’t just parading another line. Earlier this year, Permanent Roommates Season 2 saw veteran actor Asrani playing Dadaji and creating mischief in the lead couple’s life and Sachin Pilgaonkar as the grandfather who does not believe in imparting sex education to kids in Y-Films’ Sex Chat with Pappu and Papa. 

While Tripling had Shernaz playing a mother, she did not shy away from giving relationship advice to her son. In Y-Films’ Bang Baaja Baaraat, she is shown kissing a much younger Neil Bhoopalam. “I’am lucky that both the shows I did had me playing fun characters, breaking moulds,” she adds.

Youth connect

While the actors agree that they don’t have the target audience in mind when they take up such projects, they admit that it is an added plus that the youth is able to relate to them in these shows. Says Kumud, “In fact, a lot of people have come to know about me because I have been a part of a web series,” he agrees. 

Talking about his own experience in Sinskaari, Alok admits he was apprehensive about taking on the show. “Then I thought, it’s a transition to another medium and I should try it. As far as films are concerned, the kind of roles I have been doing all my life have dried up. We get roles in television because the small screen is still in the regressive mode. Oldies are still goldies there. But when it comes to the contemporary content, we are nowhere. So when I got an offer to do a web-series, I latched on to it,” he says. 

Perhaps Darshan Jariwala, who played the role of the quirky father in Permanent Roommates Season 2, sums it up when he says, “Nowadays, youngsters want to click a selfie with me, not because I am a National Award winning actor for Gandhi My Father, but because I acted in PR-2!”