Chaya Unnikrishnan (DNA; August 31, 2019)

Eighteen years after he made his TV debut as Dr Shashank in the serial Sanjivani, Mohnish Bahl is back on the small-screen reprising his role in the reboot of the medical drama. The actor is known to take long gaps between projects, but he immediately gave his nod to this show. “When Siddharth P Malhotra called and told me that he plans to remake the show, I said I would like to do it before he completed the sentence. This series has a lot of memories for me — I like the role, the feel of it, and it’s a nice place to be in,” smiles Mohnish. On the big screen, the 58-year-old will be seen in the historical war drama Panipat five years after his last outing, Jai Ho (2014). Here, he talks about taking a long hiatus from films and TV,  his daughter Pranutan Bahl’s foray into movies and how today’s newbies can’t afford to make mistakes.

Why do you take such long gaps between your projects?
I’m a bit particular about the work I do. It should appeal to me. There are so many projects that I say no to because they don’t excite me. Then I disappear and people forget about me until somebody like Siddhu (Siddharth P Malhotra, Sanjivani’s producer) remembers me (laughs).

What appealed to you about Sanjivani 2?
I started my journey on TV with this. It was a wonderful show about human emotions. It felt nice to revisit it all over again. The first one ran for a good four-and-half-years — those were the days of weekly shows. I felt we had more steam and there was more to do. I am playing the same character, but he is aged about 15-18 years since then. He has matured with time as we all do. He is mellower and stubborn at the same time. When you are younger, you emphasise your views more strongly in society and make your place. As you age, you become calmer and accept life for what it is. Also, it will be nostalgia for the show’s fans. Besides, all the cases have human interest stories. With every illness comes a family’s life story.

The trend of remakes has caught on in a big way in films, too...  
Yes, but I’m not so much in favour of films being remade. I don’t believe a film like Sholay, Deewar, Hum Aapke Hain... Koun! or Hum Saath Saath Hain should be remade, unless it’s in another language or social environment, because the magic happens at that point of time. I feel if you package the same product, it’s a copy. Why go there? Unless, you take a very old film and adapt it to modern times, like the Ramayan and the Mahabharat or Deewar set to today’s times.

You are returning to films with Panipat five years after Jai Ho. How was the experience?
It was lovely to get back on the sets because I don’t shoot so much. I do films once in a while.  There should be some viability when I come on screen otherwise all the years of good work gets washed away by your last release. I would like to be viable and credible. Panipat is my first period drama and wearing those clothes and jewellery was amazing. I was more decked up than our leading lady! I am playing Nanasaheb Peshwa, who sent the Maratha army to battle against all odds, against the wiser wisdom of his generals. That’s the call of the duty that takes over. Marathas had various arrangements and agreement where they were supposed to protect northern states.

Your daughter Pranutan seems to be as picky and choosy as you. After Notebook, she hasn’t signed any movie...
That comes naturally to her. She is a bit particular. When I joined the industry in the ’80s, we as newcomers had a lot of work available to us. There were different types of cinema in terms of A, B, and C. We were afforded a lot of mistakes in our career. You could get away with a bad film here and a bad performance there. Today’s kids don’t have that liberty or flexibility. They do a couple of bad films and they are written off. They have to be careful about what they sign. In my time, one producer was making three films, now three producers are making one film and there is a studio backing them. The budgets have gone up. Kids who are debuting now have to be careful about what they choose. They need to present themselves at the top of their game every time.

The film didn’t fare well at the box-office...
We were disappointed with that, but I  personally liked the film, I liked her work and Zaheer’s (Iqbal). You don’t know what’s going to happen on a Friday. There is a strong element of luck and chance and that’s what all of us play with.

How did Pranutan cope with it?
She is a strong lady, educated, with a head firmly on her shoulders. She has done masters in law. She is level-headed and knows what this business is about. She has seen it with her father — the ups and downs, and being at home without work. Being an actor is a very insecure business. She knows that but obviously knowing and experiencing it are two different things. What I like about her is that she accepts the commercial non-success of Notebook but at the same time she has got very good reviews from the industry and the critics. That’s a big plus, it’s not like she’s been written off.


Mohnish Bahl with daughter Pranutan