Actor Supriya Pilgaonkar will be seen in an upcoming web series for the first time. She talks about the state of comedy shows in India with the reporter Asmita Sarkar

A frail housewife taking up the cudgels against her more robust mother-in-law in a comical manner is what actor Supriya Pilgaonkar is best remembered for.

Tu tu main main, a comedy where Pilgaonkar played the daughter-in-law of Reema Lagoo had a long run on TV from the 1990s to 2000. The actor will now be seen in an emotional drama on a social issue called Home which would be streamed on ALTBalaji app.

Pilgaonkar, who has a penchant for comedy, has strong views about the genre and says that whether a comedy is a light family entertainment or below the belt, depends on the viewers. The older works are remembered more as there were fewer shows earlier but also they were more wholesome, believes the actor.  She is still keen on doing finite comedies like Sarabhai vs Sarabhai and Khichdi and laments that she has not done many in recent years.

“I enjoyed watching Sarabhai. But when I was doing comedy I pined for other kind of roles. Now that I have done that for so long I want a lighter version,” she said, while adding that tastes have changed. She implied that comedies  on screen use more below the belt humour than clean humour. The younger generation is more likely to remember Bhabiji ghar par hain! and Taarak Mehta ka ooltah chashmah. “Bhabiji has a family vibe. It is not below the belt humour entirely,” she said.

“The internet has increased the reach of entertainment and it is now in people’s pockets,” she added. The actress has seen the industry going through transition having begun with the serial Kshitij ye nahi on Doordarshan in 1992. The story was of a widow, with a young daughter, who gets a second chance at love. Prior to that she exclusively acted in Marathi films.

“It was not very difficult to adapt. I was not in a rut. I have been around but have not done too much. It was not an everyday thing for me. I was changing slowly as well. TV was just coming up then. When I was part of Kshitij ye nahi, which was a finite show, I realised that TV is different as a medium. In the next two years, Zee, Star Plus and other channels started. Then I did Tu tu main main, and that went on for long that I had time to adapt. I couldn’t imagine how far it would reach and now the way the internet is reaching people is amazing,” she said. However, the director’s actor doesn’t believe that the performance has to be adapted for various media. “As an actor, my work is the same. You do what the director tells you to do.”

“Earlier, we used to shoot for a month and now I shoot for two years. You’re doing one thing for longer periods. If I had said no, I would be sitting home or doing only films. But in films there is a trend of young mothers. I am not as old as I portray but people want to see younger mothers. I don’t know. Earlier, I wasn’t very convinced but now I am old enough to play those roles. In my case, it happened slowly so I never understood what all I have done. But when I think about it, I realised I have done so much,” said the veteran. However, she doesn’t have a checklist and instead goes with the flow while making sure that she doesn’t get dragged into doing kitchen politics shows. And as a result when she got a call from Ekta Kapoor’s office earlier, she was not convinced as she was being offered roles in such shows. However, Supriya give her consent when she was asked to be a part of the web series Home, because of the content.

“I was pleasantly surprised by Ekta Kapoor. I always wanted to work with her  as it is always great to work with someone successful. There are probably no takers for this kind of a story on TV. In the web series, we got that freedom and Ekta showed courage in making it. It’s a beautiful subject which got a platform. For a film, they would have thought 10 times before making it. Pertaining to this show, I would say that they exercised their freedom well,” she said.

Home is the first time that she collaborated with Habib Faisal. “He’s a very sensitive director. He knows exactly what he wants. I learned a lot. Even after so many years Annu (Kapoor), doesn’t take anything for granted. I am also like that. I like to take my work seriously,” she said.

The show, starring Annu Kapoor, Supriya Pilgaonkar, Amol Parashar and Parikshit Sahni, takes one through the emotional struggles of a family that is asked to vacate their home because of corruption. Annu Kapoor recently criticised India for being hypocritical and undisciplined. To which, Pilgaonkar said, “I don’t know if I believe in what he has said but I think everyone should be connected to their values. We are moving away from our Indian values and that is a problem.”

Writer: Asmita Sarkar

Courtesy: The Pioneer

Actor Supriya Pilgaonkar will be seen in an upcoming web series for the first time. She talks about the state of comedy shows in India with the reporter Asmita Sarkar

A frail housewife taking up the cudgels against her more robust mother-in-law in a comical manner is what actor Supriya Pilgaonkar is best remembered for.

Tu tu main main, a comedy where Pilgaonkar played the daughter-in-law of Reema Lagoo had a long run on TV from the 1990s to 2000. The actor will now be seen in an emotional drama on a social issue called Home which would be streamed on ALTBalaji app.

Pilgaonkar, who has a penchant for comedy, has strong views about the genre and says that whether a comedy is a light family entertainment or below the belt, depends on the viewers. The older works are remembered more as there were fewer shows earlier but also they were more wholesome, believes the actor.  She is still keen on doing finite comedies like Sarabhai vs Sarabhai and Khichdi and laments that she has not done many in recent years.

“I enjoyed watching Sarabhai. But when I was doing comedy I pined for other kind of roles. Now that I have done that for so long I want a lighter version,” she said, while adding that tastes have changed. She implied that comedies  on screen use more below the belt humour than clean humour. The younger generation is more likely to remember Bhabiji ghar par hain! and Taarak Mehta ka ooltah chashmah. “Bhabiji has a family vibe. It is not below the belt humour entirely,” she said.

“The internet has increased the reach of entertainment and it is now in people’s pockets,” she added. The actress has seen the industry going through transition having begun with the serial Kshitij ye nahi on Doordarshan in 1992. The story was of a widow, with a young daughter, who gets a second chance at love. Prior to that she exclusively acted in Marathi films.

“It was not very difficult to adapt. I was not in a rut. I have been around but have not done too much. It was not an everyday thing for me. I was changing slowly as well. TV was just coming up then. When I was part of Kshitij ye nahi, which was a finite show, I realised that TV is different as a medium. In the next two years, Zee, Star Plus and other channels started. Then I did Tu tu main main, and that went on for long that I had time to adapt. I couldn’t imagine how far it would reach and now the way the internet is reaching people is amazing,” she said. However, the director’s actor doesn’t believe that the performance has to be adapted for various media. “As an actor, my work is the same. You do what the director tells you to do.”

“Earlier, we used to shoot for a month and now I shoot for two years. You’re doing one thing for longer periods. If I had said no, I would be sitting home or doing only films. But in films there is a trend of young mothers. I am not as old as I portray but people want to see younger mothers. I don’t know. Earlier, I wasn’t very convinced but now I am old enough to play those roles. In my case, it happened slowly so I never understood what all I have done. But when I think about it, I realised I have done so much,” said the veteran. However, she doesn’t have a checklist and instead goes with the flow while making sure that she doesn’t get dragged into doing kitchen politics shows. And as a result when she got a call from Ekta Kapoor’s office earlier, she was not convinced as she was being offered roles in such shows. However, Supriya give her consent when she was asked to be a part of the web series Home, because of the content.

“I was pleasantly surprised by Ekta Kapoor. I always wanted to work with her  as it is always great to work with someone successful. There are probably no takers for this kind of a story on TV. In the web series, we got that freedom and Ekta showed courage in making it. It’s a beautiful subject which got a platform. For a film, they would have thought 10 times before making it. Pertaining to this show, I would say that they exercised their freedom well,” she said.

Home is the first time that she collaborated with Habib Faisal. “He’s a very sensitive director. He knows exactly what he wants. I learned a lot. Even after so many years Annu (Kapoor), doesn’t take anything for granted. I am also like that. I like to take my work seriously,” she said.

The show, starring Annu Kapoor, Supriya Pilgaonkar, Amol Parashar and Parikshit Sahni, takes one through the emotional struggles of a family that is asked to vacate their home because of corruption. Annu Kapoor recently criticised India for being hypocritical and undisciplined. To which, Pilgaonkar said, “I don’t know if I believe in what he has said but I think everyone should be connected to their values. We are moving away from our Indian values and that is a problem.”

Writer: Asmita Sarkar

Courtesy: The Pioneer