/> He has got to be the most underrated actor on this planet. The sparse work that Pankaj Kapoor does makes you want to tear your hair in frustration.

Not Pankaj. He's cool as a cucumber as he shoots for the sequel run of the evergreen working-class sitcom Office Office.

"I admit I'm choosy. That's because I like to concentrate on what I'm doing. There aren't too many great offers coming my way. So I've to pick and choose from the ones that do come to me. I agree I'd like to do more work.

But the right kind of roles have to be offered to me. I'm not saying the roles need to be realistic all the time, though that's what I like connecting with on screen. But if the role is larger than life, it had better go the whole hog as it did in Anubhav Sinha's Dus."

Post-Dus and the stunning performance in Vishal Bhardwaj's Maqbool, Pankaj isn't exactly inundated with offers. "Yes, the offers did come my way.

But nothing that excited me. But I've done three more films. One is Vishal Bhardwaj's The Blue Umbrella and Bhavna Talwar's Dharam.. Finally there's The Good Sharma."

Don't jump. Because Pankaj isn't playing the title role. He explains, "I'm not playing The Good Sharma. It's based on a real-life story of man who went to America as a lawyer. But ended up as taxi driver.

He returns to India to try and build a school in his village. I play a character called Hanuman who's the antagonist of the story.

I look at the project in totality, what kind of a story it is, and what it has to offer me as an actor. It's okay if the part isn't large."

Pankaj has more than his share of the pivotal in the long-running serial Office Office which now switches channels from Sab TV to Star One. "It gives me a chance to play someone real, someone who can laugh at the vagaries of life.

I play an common man who goes through all the day-to-day hardships. After three years on one channel it's going to another channel. I'm glad more people might get to see Office Office. I'm rather impressed by Star's choice.

Office Office is totally in contrast with what they've been doing so far. Thank God there's room for something different on television."

He admits that television is mired in mediocrity. "I admit TV is a far cry from the films that I started my career with, like Ek Doctor Ki Maut. It's like reading Chekov and then going on to a comic strip.

Both have their own pleasure. I mean, reading R.K. Laxman's cartoon can be as satisfying as reading literature. As an actor, I just wanted to play different characters representing the truth about life. I didn't want to get stuck in any one kind of image.

When I came to Mumbai to join the film industry I was offered mainstream cinema. But I knew I'd get slotted in one kind of cinema. On television I had the opportunity of doing different kinds of parts."

He recalls his days of superstardom on the home-viewing medium with affection. "There were certain things that I tried to do on Karamchand.

Initially they were hated, but eventually everyoned loved the characterization. I was only a theatre actor when I did Karamchand. I never knew this kind of popularity existed for an actor. A large section of the audience didn't know who I was.

Karamchand gave me an opportunity to be a household name. It was a good feeling."

And the good feeling returned when director Pankaj Parasher shot a sequel to Karamchand with Pankaj. It went on air by year-end.

"It was in a way an extension of an experience that both me and Pankar Parasher went through twenty-five years back. The challenge was to take my detective's character further."

Otherwise, Pankaj is happy doing work sparingly. "Ideally I'd like to do four films a year. But where are those films? In the last three years I've done only six films.

I've tried to be less choosy, tried to make sense of something that doesn't make full sense. But when a project seems pointless from the start, what's the point in doing it? Audiences will wonder why I'm doing something inane."

And why did Pankaj say no to his brother-in-law Naseeruddin Shah for Yun Hota To Kya Hota ? "It's such a huge misunderstanding. I had told Naseer I cannot possibly say no to him when he's making his first film.

I was extremely caught up with my house being done up because I was the contractor, architect and interior designer of my new home. Apparently he was told by his assistants that they couldn't contact me.

By the time he realized I was going to do it, he already had another actor for my part.Naseer is family. Secondly I hold him in great esteem as an actor. Why should I say no to his first film?"

Pankaj has plans to direct a film. "But not right away. I might direct my son Shahid soon. No one has tapped his talent properly as yet. I wish the filmmakers would give him a dramatic role. We might work together as director and actor. We're both trying to crack a project together."

Currently he's shooting round-the-clock for Office Office. "Do you think it'd be too much of me on tv? I don't think so. They're completely different characters and characters who viewers are familiar with...By God's grace I've a fantastic life."

Pankaj and his talented wife Supriya Pathak were seen together in the film Dharm.

"She played my wife. Earlier we did the mini-series Mohandas BA. LLB together. I did everything on that serial –production, direction, scripting etc.

I got tired and decided television was an unproductive medium. We look forward to doing more work together. But it has to be worth our while."