In Lucknow recently, actor Aasif Sheikh better known as Vibhuti Narayan Mishra from Bhabi Ji Ghar Par Hai! made the most of his visit to the city. "I usually do not eat a full meal but when I came to Lucknow and went to eat the famous delicacies at a local restaurant, after a long time I ate pett bhar ke," shared the actor, adding, "I have been to Lucknow so many times. I came here when my first film, Rama O Rama was released in 1989. Lucknow has a lot of heritage value. Also, I have shared a special bond with UP as both my parents are from Banaras. And since my father was a Kaamil in Urdu, which is a degree in the language, my tallafuz (diction) in Urdu is so clear to date. He always stressed on the 'aap' while addressing each other at home. We, as children, were not allowed to go casual in our language despite living in Delhi, which helped me a lot later in life, especially in my profession."

Starting as a villain in the industry, Aasif is now tagged as a comedian because of his long association with the show Bhabi Ji... "I do not want to break the mold of a comedian that I am tagged as now. I enjoy comedy and it is my comfort zone. As a break from comedy, I do serious roles now and then in theatre. I am not desperate to do a non-comic role as I have got a lot of variation in Bhabi Ji. I have played more than 350 characters on that show. I have been updating my comedy also over the years and do not let the fatigue come into my work. Today for an actor, the fight is to stay relevant," he says.

Being part of the show Bhabi Ji for almost a decade now, Aasif has a lot of plans in store when the show ends. "I would like to take a break once Bhabi Ji ends, at least for six months. I would like to do new plays which I have been wanting to do for a long time. I believe theatre gives you a lot of confidence as an actor, a lot of poise, good body language, and an outlook as it is a live medium," he says.

When I used to do cinema, I always complained that I was not getting good roles. My main reason for doing television was to get that due respect for my work. Whatever I have right now is because of the medium. I did cinema for about seven years, but I earned the respect on TV. I was quite frustrated when I was doing films and when I was out of work for sometime.