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“I DID NOT TAKE UP POLITICS BECAUSE I CAN NOT PLEASE PEOPLE”
This is the first time that I am actually doing a prime time serial for a major satellite channel like Sony Television. I have entered the world of the satellite channels with Waqt Batayega.
J.V: If I am not mistaken, you had acted in Rajshri’s Pyar Ke Do Naam Ek Radha Ek Shyam!
M.K: I had acted in Pyar Ke Do Naam Ek Radha Ek Shyam because I am quite close to the Rajshris with whom I had acted in films two decades ago. I acted in their serial because they wanted some padding in the third level of generations in their serial Pyar Ke Do Naam Ek Radha Ek Shyam. It was not a major role. It was just a walk on part that I did because I could not bring myself to say no to them.
J.V: Weren’t you supposed to act in a serial for TV 18?
M.K: Yes. I had received the offer to act in a serial from TV 18. The show was up my lane and I liked the character that I was offered but I do not know what went wrong and where because the serial did not take off after I was tempted to do the same. In the meanwhile Dheeraj came up with this offer and I said yes to the serial Waqt Batayega
J.V: What has happened to your serial Sautela?
M.K: I was needed for Sautela for almost twenty days every month nd it was taking a toll on my time. After I started acting in Waqt Batayega, my role has been kept on hold as far as the serial Sautela is concerned, because I found it difficult to concentrate on both the serials at the same time. I did not want the quality of my work to suffer and hence I decided to act only in Wqaqt Batayega.
J.V: In the initial days of your struggle, the media said that you copied Amitabh Bachchan as far as dialogue delivery was concerned!
M.K: Yes. I used to get angry when people said that I was copying Amitabh Bachchan. However after the success of Mahabharat, I am glad that people especially the critics stopped comparing me with Amitabh Bachchan and let me get saddled with my own individual identity as an actor with my own style.
J.V: Why do you not accept the role of a villain?
M.K: The late producer director Manmohan Desai did offer me a role as the villain in one of his films because by that time after I played the role of Bhishmapitamah in Mahabharat , I was established as a cult figure but I was adamant that I would never play a negative role because it would go against my pious image.
J.V: You had played the villain in Saugandh. Didn’t you?
M.K: I know I can play a villain like I did in Saugandh. It is not difficult for me to play negative roles but mera dil nahi manta hain. I do not mind being stereo typed as an actor by doing similar roles but I can not help it because playing strong positive roles is my forte
J.V: Which serial has given you creative satisfaction as an actor till date?
M.K: It is Shaktimaan which has given me a lot of creative satisfaction as a human being, because it catered to both the elite as well as the lowest of the rungs and kids became my friends overnight. I did not have to act in Shaktimaan but just be what I am in real life and that endeared me to kids. However as an actor, I do not think any role of mine can touch the character of Bhishma, which was a character which was full of good will
J.V: You can sway the voters if you join politics. Are there plans to join politics?
M.K: I cannot be a politician, because I cannot please people. I am not a Nitish Bharadwaj. If Nitish goes to Jamshedpur, usko jhoote padenge, because he has not fulfilled whatever he had promised the voters there in his constituency. I feel that if you do not have the time, you should not enter politics. Like Nitesh, you have other examples like Dharamji and Govinda, who are now neither in films nor in politics.
J.V: Weren’t you offered a seat by BJP some time back?
M.K: Yes. I was asked by the BJP to stand for elections from Chandni Chowk, before Smriti Irani was offered the same. I however said no to the offer because I did not have the time to take off from my hectic schedules especially since I was busy shooting for Shaktimaan, which was my commitment to Doordarshan as well as the children all over the globe.
J.V: Are you scared to take up politics?
M.K: It is not that I am scared to take up politics. I do not have the patience. I tend to get irritated if some one does not do the job assigned to him or her, because I am a little bit of a perfectionist. If in India every one does his job, we will be perfect. Unfortunately here in India we only observe other’s jobs and indulge in gossip most of the time. Professionalism is what is missing in India, especially in Bollywood. That is where Hollywood scores over Bollywood.
J.V: You were planning to launch the Bhojpuri version of Saugandh!
M.K: I was toying with the idea to launch the Bhojpuri version of Saugandh with Manoj Tiwari. I dropped the idea just a month before it could take off because Manoj was frank enough to advise me to drop the project because he felt it would be not viable.
J.V: If I am not mistaken, you had acted in Rajshri’s Pyar Ke Do Naam Ek Radha Ek Shyam!
M.K: I had acted in Pyar Ke Do Naam Ek Radha Ek Shyam because I am quite close to the Rajshris with whom I had acted in films two decades ago. I acted in their serial because they wanted some padding in the third level of generations in their serial Pyar Ke Do Naam Ek Radha Ek Shyam. It was not a major role. It was just a walk on part that I did because I could not bring myself to say no to them.
J.V: Weren’t you supposed to act in a serial for TV 18?
M.K: Yes. I had received the offer to act in a serial from TV 18. The show was up my lane and I liked the character that I was offered but I do not know what went wrong and where because the serial did not take off after I was tempted to do the same. In the meanwhile Dheeraj came up with this offer and I said yes to the serial Waqt Batayega
J.V: What has happened to your serial Sautela?
M.K: I was needed for Sautela for almost twenty days every month nd it was taking a toll on my time. After I started acting in Waqt Batayega, my role has been kept on hold as far as the serial Sautela is concerned, because I found it difficult to concentrate on both the serials at the same time. I did not want the quality of my work to suffer and hence I decided to act only in Wqaqt Batayega.
J.V: In the initial days of your struggle, the media said that you copied Amitabh Bachchan as far as dialogue delivery was concerned!
M.K: Yes. I used to get angry when people said that I was copying Amitabh Bachchan. However after the success of Mahabharat, I am glad that people especially the critics stopped comparing me with Amitabh Bachchan and let me get saddled with my own individual identity as an actor with my own style.
J.V: Why do you not accept the role of a villain?
M.K: The late producer director Manmohan Desai did offer me a role as the villain in one of his films because by that time after I played the role of Bhishmapitamah in Mahabharat , I was established as a cult figure but I was adamant that I would never play a negative role because it would go against my pious image.
J.V: You had played the villain in Saugandh. Didn’t you?
M.K: I know I can play a villain like I did in Saugandh. It is not difficult for me to play negative roles but mera dil nahi manta hain. I do not mind being stereo typed as an actor by doing similar roles but I can not help it because playing strong positive roles is my forte
J.V: Which serial has given you creative satisfaction as an actor till date?
M.K: It is Shaktimaan which has given me a lot of creative satisfaction as a human being, because it catered to both the elite as well as the lowest of the rungs and kids became my friends overnight. I did not have to act in Shaktimaan but just be what I am in real life and that endeared me to kids. However as an actor, I do not think any role of mine can touch the character of Bhishma, which was a character which was full of good will
J.V: You can sway the voters if you join politics. Are there plans to join politics?
M.K: I cannot be a politician, because I cannot please people. I am not a Nitish Bharadwaj. If Nitish goes to Jamshedpur, usko jhoote padenge, because he has not fulfilled whatever he had promised the voters there in his constituency. I feel that if you do not have the time, you should not enter politics. Like Nitesh, you have other examples like Dharamji and Govinda, who are now neither in films nor in politics.
J.V: Weren’t you offered a seat by BJP some time back?
M.K: Yes. I was asked by the BJP to stand for elections from Chandni Chowk, before Smriti Irani was offered the same. I however said no to the offer because I did not have the time to take off from my hectic schedules especially since I was busy shooting for Shaktimaan, which was my commitment to Doordarshan as well as the children all over the globe.
J.V: Are you scared to take up politics?
M.K: It is not that I am scared to take up politics. I do not have the patience. I tend to get irritated if some one does not do the job assigned to him or her, because I am a little bit of a perfectionist. If in India every one does his job, we will be perfect. Unfortunately here in India we only observe other’s jobs and indulge in gossip most of the time. Professionalism is what is missing in India, especially in Bollywood. That is where Hollywood scores over Bollywood.
J.V: You were planning to launch the Bhojpuri version of Saugandh!
M.K: I was toying with the idea to launch the Bhojpuri version of Saugandh with Manoj Tiwari. I dropped the idea just a month before it could take off because Manoj was frank enough to advise me to drop the project because he felt it would be not viable.
