‘If people forget you, don’t dare come back’

Akash Wadhwa (BOMBAY TIMES; November 12, 2022)

Back in the business of hosting, actor Shekhar Suman is enjoying every bit of his stint on Bigg Boss 16. In a freewheeling chat, he spoke about BB, bringing back his popular show Movers and Shakers and his upcoming Bollywood film. Excerpts...

Since you are hosting a segment on Bigg Boss now, do you watch the show daily? Have you been following the previous seasons?
I used to watch Bigg Boss sporadically, I was never an avid watcher. But this time, since it is a part of my job, I am watching it religiously. I am not watching it just as an audience, but as a host. I have to study the contestants and their games. They are all very interesting case studies for me.

How did this offer come to you?
It came out of the blue! I still don’t know why the makers thought of me. Bigg Boss predominantly is a Salman Khan show and I wondered what I would do in it; I always thought that there was no space for anybody else as far as hosting BB was concerned. So I had my apprehensions as the show is synonymous with Salman. Also, I am used to doing my own shows and I was like, ‘What the hell am I going to do in someone else’s show’. But then, I was assured that mine is going to be a show within the main show, which I would do all by myself. So I took it up as a challenge and I am enjoying it.

What took you so long to return to hosting?
Well, we are working on bringing back another season of Movers & Shakers. My mother was not well for the past four years, so I got her from Patna to Mumbai and wanted to spend time with her. Last year, unfortunately, I lost her and after that, I did Laughter Challenge and now Bigg Boss. I am also doing a movie with Sanjay Leela Bhansali. I have taken up so many projects now.

So when are you bringing back the next season of Movers & Shakers?
Within three months. We are working on that. The show is going to remain the same, only a few segments will change.
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Rishabh Suri (HINDUSTAN TIMES; November 12, 2022)

Shekhar Suman has always worked at his own pace. He will do a show, disappear for a while and then come back only to repeat the same process. While he took a sabbatical in 2018 to spend time with his mother, who passed away in 2021, he was recently seen judging a comedy show.

Ask if this behaviour can be risky for actors, as makers and the viewers tend to forget people who are out of sight and the actor disagrees. He believes in the adage ‘distance makes the heart grow fonder’. “I think the best litmus test to understand if people love you is to give them something to miss. Go away. If people still want you, that means you are loved. If they have forgotten you, don’t dare come back,” says the 59-year-old.

While on a break, Suman says he was constantly asked, ‘When are you coming back?’, which he describes as the “most loving feeling you can have”. He adds, “When your wife or girlfriend goes away, you immediately call them and tell them that you are missing them. But when they are around, you take them for granted. That breathing space is very important, whether it’s between personal relations or the audience and an actor,” says Suman, who plans to return with his ’90s talk show, Movers & Shakers.