Sumeet Raghavan aka Sahil of Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai is quite kicked with the response season 2 (Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai Take 2 on Hotstar) has been garnering.
“It is heartwarming to get so much love and affection. We have managed to create same magic as 12 years before. At first we were a bit hesitant will a sequel that too online, work? ,but once we heard the season 2 script of writer Aatish Kapadia, who seems to have a great magic at least for Sarabhai, we were confident that we would hit the bull’s eye again,” says Sumeet in an exclusive chat with Indianwikimedia.
What do you feel about your dentist character? “Agreed Sahil is the only sane one in the family but he too has his whims and fancies. I guess what’s make people like him is the madness surrounding him otherwise he would have been another boring guy.”
Continuing, this multilingual expert (speaks Marathi, Tamil, Gujarati etc) adds, “Although I don’t overact, as a rule the characterization here did not demand loudness as Monisha (Rupali Ganguly) and Roshesh (Rajesh Kumar) already do that and Maya (Ratna Pathak Shah) also reacts. Had I done the same, my character would not stand out and lose his charm.”
Quiz him about the internet and he says, “It is the medium of the future, in fact we were the first ones to have started digital programming with our chat show Jai Hind back in ‘09. But then the World Wide Web was in its nascent stage. Today, things are coming of age due to 4G connections. You don’t need to come back home to watch TV you can watch it on the go on your smart phone or tablet.”
Here he admits, “Sexual innuendo does seem to be the mantra for web as of now, some of our Jai Hind episodes also rated high due to the same. But here Sarabhai might change the grammar proving that the below the belt jokes or cuss words are not needed, if you have great content.”
Sumeet is known as one of few talented actors who have stayed away from saas bahu rut and have carved a distinct niche for himself. “There is very little to do for men in daily soaps, they are just properties on the set. Doing comedy on the other hand gives me gratification and also puts the onus of the show on me.”
Talking about his best work he says, “Shubh Mangal Savadhan had a great cast, Sajan Re Jhoot Mat Bolo was good at first, but lost steam when it went daily. And last but not the least my last TV show Badi Doooor Se Aaye Hai, they all had meat. Interestingly all my best TV projects were on the wrong channel, e.g. Shubh Mangal Savadhan and Sarabhai vs Sarabhai . The latter hardly rated at first hence was asked to go, it only picked up steam on re runs.”
Looking ahead he might be open to more web series, “It depends on how Sarabhai does.”
If he ever turns producer for web he may try to make a travel show. He also does not have anything on broadcast as well. “I am waiting for something juicy there as well.”
We wish you luck Sumeet!!!
