Paresh Rawal Tells Subhash K Jha Why He's Fed Up Of Comedy.

Q: You've yet another comedic release coming up.
A: I've just returned from shooting for Ahmed Khan's Fool & Final which is another caper..Main solid oob gaya hoon (I'm seriously fed up)...I won't touch anything dubious. But Malaamal Weekly was enjoyable. The flavour is not farcical. It's not just a comedy, or a family film or a thriller.

The pleasure of working with Omji (Om Puri) in an entire film, is rare. It gave me a chance to rejuvenate myself as an actor. Main unka bhakt raha hoon. It's very rare to come across actors who aren't selfish.

Q: But your director Priyadarshan tells me there was healthy rivalry between you and Om?
A: Oh yes! It was great fun improvising between the two of us, and to see who would get the last word in. There're only a few people in the film industry whom I admire as actors and humanbeings. Omji is one of them. He's such a sweetheart.

Q: Are you tired of shouldering the entire responsibility of films?
A: I've worked so hard to arrive at this juncture in my career where I can shoulder whole films. But it depends on what you're shouldering. Sometimes it's Shravan's old and blind parents, sometimes it's the mischievous Bikram-Vetal duo. Sometimes it can't be helped. I've been in the industry for so long.

Films sometimes don't work even when I'm convinced of the storyline. At times I do films because of the set-up or to be part of a good film. But yes, I'm completely bored with comedy. I want filmmakers to know that I'm open to doing serious non-comic roles. My doors are wide open for them.

Q: It's believed you've hiked your price.
A: No it all depends on the set-up. For a film like Iqbal I won't ask my market price. But if it's an out-and-out commercial film why shouldn't I ask for what I think I deserve? But I know my limitations. It's the conventional leading man who draws the audience.

I'm not insecure about money. I'm insecure about good actors. After I watch Nseer or Om perform I stay awake the whole night. My values are middleclass. I don't want to be rich. I want to be succesful.

Q: Most of the comedy today is vulgar.
A: I don't go into vulgar double-meanings at all.Thankfully they don't come to me. And by chance if I end up with something vulgar I modify it to suit my sensitivities. I change the words to take the sting out of the double meaning. I've a couple of really decent comedies coming up. After Malaamal Weekly it will be Phir Hera Pheri. That will create a bang.

Neeraj Vora who has directed Phir Hera Pheri has a lot of wisdom in his comedy which he isn't allowed to show on screen. Producer sirf oopar ki malaai nikaal lete hain. They don't want to go to the source of the punch line. That's why from now on I'll say a flat no to farcical comedies. There's a serious scarcity of writers in Bollywood, specially comedy writers. Drama and villainy can be managed without good writing.

But not comedy. I never felt as suffocated doing villainy as I do now in doing comedy. I'm afraid comedy in our cinema is heading towards doom. Even Neeraj Vora is fed up of the comedy he's forced to write.

Q: But you bring a variation in all your comedies?
A: I try to make it interesting by trying to find something interesting in the plot. Now I find a lot of imitators. That's understandable. If you hit a good square-cut others are bound to learn it too. Even I've been inspired by Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri and Amitabh Bachchan. But I've never imitated anyone.

Q: Any serious roles coming up?
A: In Abbas-Mastan's 36 China Town I've different shades to perform. Abbas and Mustan are so untouched by the trappings of showbiz.In Naseerbhai's Yun Hota To Kya Hota I've a role that's comic but it's a serious kind of comedy. But I want to do a human drama.

When I was doing villains' roles Ketan Mehta came along and offered me Sardar Patel. People thought he was crazy but Ketan was convinced. Then Mahesh Bhatt came into my life to give me Sir, Tamanna and Kubzaa. I'm waiting for another Ketan Mehta and Mahesh Bhatt to come into my life.

Q: You've hardly done any offbeat cinema?
A: It's very strange, but at the beginning of my career I struggled to get into art films...I didn't get any roles in films by Govind Nihalani, Shayam Benegal and Kumar Shahane. Then I went into commercial cinema and became successful when in 1984 Karim Morani saw a play and recommended me to Rahul Rawail in Arjun.

Q: Why did you stop working for Mahest Bhatt?
A: Even today I'd happily work with him. But not when someone else directs his productions. I've to trust my director. If I'm stripping myself emotionally for a man he better deserve my respect. Nowadays the entire dynasty descends to direct some films. I can't work like that. I'd like to work with a filmmaker with convictions like Sudhir Mishra, Prakash Jha, Raj Santoshi..... Why aren't these people coming to me?

I've no ego problems in calling up a director ten times a day. But at the end of the day I should have a role to show for it. I don't have a secretary. I handle my own career. I don't want to fire my gun from another person's shoulder. I take my own decisions and live by them.

Q: What are you now looking for?
A: I need challenges as an actor. I feel the comic period in my career has harmed the actor in me. I don't know what to do....Give me just two solid scenes. But give me something to do. Kuch meaningful ho. I'm hopeful about Malaamal Weekly. It's a remarkable con game. It dispels the notion of villagers being simpletons. I don't get turned on by being the leading man. But if it works filmmakers would be encouraged to do a different kind of comedy.