Tanvi Trivedi (BOMBAY TIMES; December 15, 2018)

Bollywood actor Shreyas Talpade is all set to make his debut on a Hindi fiction show. The actor, who started his career with Marathi television shows before moving on to films, will soon be seen on a comedy show titled My Name Ijj Lakhan. BT has it that his character has been inspired by Munna Bhai, one of Sanjay Dutt’s most popular roles till date.

Ask him why he is doing a fiction show and Sheryas tells BT, “When I forayed into films, I didn’t say that I would never do television. Many actors like to keep it separate — they either do television, or focus on films. In my case, I have known the workings of the television industry for long and don’t want to restrict myself to any medium. For me, the most important aspect is the role, and I accepted this show because my character is different, and has good scope for performance. Also, it’s a finite show.”

The actor says that he isn’t doing television because there are no film offers. “I am not turning to television because film offers are drying up. If that was the case, I would have started doing TV long back. There was a time a few months ago, when nothing interesting was coming my way and I was not doing films at all. I should have attempted TV then, but I did not. Currently, I am doing three-four films with interesting subjects and this show, too, came up. So, I will be juggling TV and films now,” Shreyas shares.

With the television space dominated by daayans and supernatural thrillers, we ask Shreyas if he likes watching such TV shows and he replies, “I don’t watch too much TV, so I won’t be the right person to answer that question. However, I firmly believe that TV actors are going the right way because they enjoy more popularity than some of our film stars. It is tough to be part of a show for two years and yet command that kind of viewership. I would not be able to hold the audience for so long.”